


Danganronpa: Escape to the Calm

by ReanMightWright



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Donganronpa fanganronpa, Fangan, Fanganronpa, Implied/Referenced Suicide, danganronpa fangan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:08:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 44,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27250969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReanMightWright/pseuds/ReanMightWright
Summary: (Tags will be updated as the story progresses.)Before the world started to end, there were plans for an overseas campus of Hope's Peak Academy. This tale will enlighten you to the members of the first scouted class, after the despair had overtaken the world.Join a new class of 16 Ultimates, as they struggle to survive the unique challenges that come with a new Killing Game and the mysteries that still need unravelling.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stay tuned by following my Tumblr @ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/reanmightwrite
Comments: 11
Kudos: 9





	1. Character bios (Not part of the actual story)

**Micheal Gerends**

The Ultimate Contortionist

Height: 5′4″

Weight: 148 lbs

Clothes: A simple blue tank top, red shorts, black flip flops, and sunglasses perched on his head.

A secretive man, Michael is hard to figure out. He’s confident in his skill when it comes to most things and as such will do his own thing more often than he will listen to anyone else. Despite this seeming lack of trust, he is unerringly honest, as he doesn’t believe that hiding anything is worthwhile. 

Despite this, he still refuses to initiate conversation with anyone he doesn’t trust as much as he trusts himself. This has been his outlook on life for as long as he’s been working as a contortionist, and has served him well as his career continues to rise.

**Dearen Hayes**

The Ultimate ???

Height: 5′10

Weight: 160 lbs

Clothes: A light orange shirt with a slightly darker heart on the chest, and dark blue jeans, a silver necklace with a little moon. Black runners with white highlights.

Not much can be known about him, mostly do to his inclination against talking, to the point that he went almost his entire time in middle school silent no matter where he was, often writing out paragraphs of a reply when he felt it was time for him to actually speak, presenting them like a speech.

However, he’s shockingly easy to talk to, always seeming intent and interested no matter what the other person is talking about. Despite that, he’s often seen as lazy or as a sort of freeloader, who only puts in the bare minimum effort he needs when it isn’t something he’s expressly interested in.

**Brynt MacAllistar**

The Ultimate Camp Counselor

Height: 5′8″

Weight: 185 lbs

Clothes: Flexible pants meant for hiking, meaning quick drying and breathable. A long sleeve shirt, light green in colour, with darker silhouettes of trees decorating it.

A natural leader, willing to do anything for those under his charge. Born to two distant parents, he was sent to camp every summer from a young age, learning most of how to live out there, making friends, and growing as a person every single day.

When he grew up, he felt himself drawn to paying back the gifts he was given during his time there, and quickly returned as a councilor. He acted as a surrogate parent for many kids who were just like him, and worked as hard as possible from sun up to sun down every single day to ensure the kids had their best possible time at his camp.

**Maria Uands**

The Ultimate Comedian

Height: 5′4″

Weight: 170 lbs

Clothes: A black trench coat, filled with props, black jeans, and black running shoes, all three with white swirls all over for decoration, over a simple white t-shirt.

She doesn’t care about much of anything, preferring to just joke around without a single care in the world. It’s hard to prove much to her, as her entire life she has been brushing off anything that happens with a laugh and a shrug, turning it back on the other with a joke. 

As she grew up, she took to the stage happily, spitting out long form stories usually spun up on the spot, as an improv specialist. She quickly obtained a large group of fans, who enjoyed her ability to string together many, many stories and single moments of quick comebacks to any hecklers, usually with a shockingly long series of insults and backhanded compliments.

**Maya Aruma**

The Ultimate Director

Height: 5′9″

Weight: 170 lbs

Clothing: A black tuxedo, with a white bowtie, over a black dress shirt. A black top hat sits high on her head, with a red band around it, along with white gloves and a carefully chosen red handkerchief folded neatly and placed in the pocket. 

Born and raised in Hollywood by a pair of famous actors, Maya spent her young life around only the most famous of the most famous, and, in a bid to prove that she belonged, she directed a movie at age 14 under a pseudonym. The film was received well enough, and she was congratulated for her intense work on it, working over every single scene with each actor, ensuring her vision was carried out with out a hitch.

Since that film, she has worked nearly non-stop on more and more, becoming lost in her work before long, releasing a movie almost every six months, over almost every single genre, with varying budgets and casts. By the time she was offered a chance to join the Academy, she already had received multiple academy awards, and many more nominations thanks to her intense attention to detail, and she was on track for many, many more.

**Aneitha Herald**

The Ultimate Woodworker

Height: 5′10″

Weight: 216 lbs

Clothes: Work belt, filled with tools, safety glasses, light brown apron, while wool turtleneck, bright blue running shoes, loose white jeans, and a light green bandana with a small design of a circular saw.

A cheerful face no matter the time, she can be seen making anything and everything wood related. Anything from small toys to helping to put up an ornate gazebo or an extravagant cabinet. She’s very excited by most things, with a child like, naïve out look on the world, always searching for the best possible thing about every single moment.

However, outside of that, she’s very easily distracted, and hard to keep on topic. Despite that, she’s very reliable, and will show up for whatever she finds important without fail. Never one to shy away from a challenge she thinks she can handle, Aneitha can be found either working, or lazing around, relaxing after a while of work.

**Gina McHerend**

The Ultimate Miner

Height: 6′3″

Weight: 223 lbs

Clothes: A light gray jumpsuit, the sleeves bunched up at her elbows, and study steel toed boots, with a simple white undershirt underneath it.

A crude, rough edged, protective person, Gina is best known for being the Ultimate Miner, but those who peruse the news about mining knows that she’s at the forefront of increasing safety regulations in mines all over the world after a collapse was triggered in her home town from a single rotted support beam giving way.

Gina brought her issues to air all over the world, somehow a source of raw, unfettered charisma when she needed to be, as she fought for the safety of those who worked like her and her home town had. 

**Jake Henry**

The Ultimate Actor

Height: 6′2″

Weight: 203 lbs

Clothes: Glasses, but as subtle as possible, with thin frames, a black long sleeved shirt, loose fitting, black sweatpants, and black runners.

The only reason he agreed to attend the Academy was because he heard the Ultimate Director would be attending, someone who he, somehow, hadn’t had a chance to work with thus far, and wanted to prove that he could put on a performance worthy of being an Ultimate. 

Born into a poor family, he developed overly complex fantasy worlds, giving very single person a different personality, acting out scenes by himself. His skill as an actor was noticed by his parents, who signed him up to acting lessons, allowing him to develop the best skills he could muster, soon staring in many indie films before making a jump to Hollywood, showing off his skill freely.

**Ethan Mark**

The Ultimate Male Model

Height: 6′4″

Weight: 194 lbs

Clothes: Dress pants, black in colour, with a long sleeved dark blue shirt, with the image of a camera on the front, with the flash going off, under a blue jacket, with a black coloured zipper, and a yellow trim.

A hard worker, dead set on making sure that he will survive and continue his career. He was born in a family of the richest of the rich, and never really felt like hit fit in anywhere. So he kept trying things until he could track down where he felt natural. 

One day, him and a close friend decided to try out modelling and something clocked with him. He worked hard, and became well known before long thanks to his skill with makeup, and his ability to know exactly what the photographer and company wanted. 

His friend never achieved the same heights, but supposedly still cheers Ethan on no matter what. 

**Alenda Geirth**

The Ultimate Blacksmith

Height: 5′6″

Weight: 198 lbs

Clothes: A dark brown apron, and welding mask, usually kept flipped up, alongside heat proof gloves and thick pants, a bright red t-shirt with orange trims along the seams, and thick, flame proof boots.

An almost motherly figure, Alenda can be seen doing a few main things, working hard at her families forge, making things for anyone and everyone who gives her an order, assuming they can pay. Despite that, she always somehow finds time to make little trinkets for everyone around, often just small little metal toys for the kids in the area.

There’s another side to this motherly character, and that’s her very protective nature of her friends and family, unwilling to stop herself from doing what she thinks is necessary to protect them. 

**Daniel Versity**

The Ultimate Dietitian

Height: 6′4″

Weight: 174 lbs

Clothes: Skinny jeans, dark blue in colour, a red toque (beanie), an ill fitting white t-shirt (too big), a black wool jacket, and a light brown apron with a stylized plate, with a knife and fork crossed over it as the decoration.

As a teen, both of his parents passed, leaving him alone to raise his younger sister, who he cared for by taking on two jobs, and cooking for every night. He did intense research into how to save money while keeping her healthy, learning about enough to keep her as healthy as possible while working most of the time.

His sister went on to be a prodigy, getting into university far early that he would’ve if he kept on in school, and both him and her worked hard to get her through it, but she sponsored him through a program to learn the rest that he didn’t know about being a dietitian. He still is trying to think of a way to thank her.

**Diana Gilden**

The Ultimate Cryptologist

Height: 5′2″

Weight: 143 lbs

Clothes: A dress shirt, always wrinkle free, and kept perfectly unstained. Thick rimmed glasses, however those are just for effect, they don’t actually impact her eyesight. The shirt pocket is filled with pens and pencils. Loose black dress pants and leather dress shoes wrap up the outfit.

She spent her entire childhood reading mystery books, solving them often quite easily, and ended up not talking with anyone her own age. Due to this, she has become rather unsure how to soften her words, coming off as painfully blunt. 

Despite this, she built up a rather large following as a member of many ARGs online, with many people creating their own with the hopes of stumping her, giving her an online notoriety unlike that of any other figure within that community.

**Kasey Belinda**

The Ultimate Student

Height: 5′6″ 

Weight: 158 lbs

Clothes: A standard school uniform.

One of eight children, Kasey was eager to find something to give her a way to stand out, despite her plain looks and fairly indistinct personality. She found a way in school, spending all of her free time to earn what she could grades wise. This lead to all nighters far more often than she should, sometimes alternating if she would sleep or not. 

However, her life began to be ruled by her time in school, her mood seeming to reflect her grades, and her health only continued to deteriorate, as her life sunk more, and more into her school work.

She hasn’t failed any test so far, and she won’t fail any others that are given to her.

**Likian Erned**

The Ultimate Reporter

Height: 5′7″

Weight: 170 lbs

Clothes: A fancy camera hanging around her neck, a fancy fedora with a piece of paper and a pencil tucked in the band, a dress shirt, sleeves rolled all the way up, black jeans, gray running shoes.

An energetic child, the ever charismatic Likian ran around interviewing people her parents knew for a made up newspaper as a game. As time went on, she discovered her skill for writing articles and investigating whatever she feels is important. 

This, combined with her unassuming demeanor, ended up getting her hired to a local newspaper, giving her a free time job of running around, using up whatever energy she can write up a weekly column of whatever she thought was interesting enough to fill it.

**Peroen Halloday**

The Ultimate Rock Climber

Height: 6′1″

Weight: 215 lbs

Clothing: A bright orange climbing windbreaker over a gray t-shirt, which has a stylized minimalist design of a mountain range. Khaki cargo shorts, pockets filled with carabiners of varying sizes and colours. A simple climbing harness, with ropes strapped to it, of differing thicknesses and designs.

A kind person, unerring in his goals, and always out to help others.

A tanned, tall, lanky person, Peroen is well known for setting records for being the youngest person to scale many mountains. Having learned and trained in his hometown, near the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, Peroen is a local legend, known for his ability to free climb anything put in front of him. 

Despite that, he feels compelled to challenge himself daily, compulsively forcing himself to and even beyond his limits sometimes far too often. 

**Derrick Merchail**

The Ultimate Diviner

Height: 5′11″

Weight: 219 lbs

Clothes: He wears light blue denim jeans, and a loose fitting white t-shirt under an always unzipped gray hoodie that has a single small design of a white tree.

Raised by a single father, he spent most of his life moving around as his dad was sent to different towns for work reasons, never really growing closer with others due to that. However, during this, he became oddly good at finding things, claiming that his gut was just super accurate, nothing more, nothing less. 

However, it’s just his ability to retrace others steps with only a moment of thought after a slight description. Despite the fact that he had this gift, it was only ever seen as him having a weird little quirk he could use to help those he wanted to talk with on short notice. He really just wanted to settle in and make some friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just character bios (all of which can be found on my tumblr), but starting soon, the plot will start so stay tuned!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	2. Prologue: The Calm Before The Storm (Part 1)

The light humming of the area was the first thing of note, it wasn’t dissimilar to a sound that he heard a few years back, reminding him of sterile places, with stuffy air, and confined hallways. A grimace crossed his face at that, before he had even opened his eyes. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, as a headache made itself known, a strip of pain behind still closed eyes.    
  
The air was dry and tasted horrible, painfully unnatural, it made him not want to open his eyes at all, in a futile hope that not doing so would make this taste, noise, and feeling go away.

They didn’t.

His eyes cracked open, as he took in the room. The humming was thanks to lights, those bar ones they had in schools, there wasn’t even a hint of natural light, no windows or anything. This already boded poorly, just where was he?    
  


The walls were painted like a forest, trees and the open sky, as though whoever brought him here was teasing him with the knowledge of where he wished he was. 

But he could deal with the rest of that later, first he should figure out where he was. Okay, starting with what he had on him. A pretty typical outfit, with empty pockets. The light green shirt, clearly made of some sort of polyester, maybe a cotton blend, decorated with a few silhouetted pine trees, in that childlike manner of stacked triangles with a small trunk out of the bottom. His pants were light, breathable, also clearly synthetic, but the pockets were empty, which was more than a little bit of a pain. Nothing helpful there. 

He had hiking boots on, plain, light brown, and, again, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Alright, so that was his personal gear, next, the rest of the room. 

It wasn’t large, barely able to fit what furniture it did have, namely the bed he was sitting on, a small wooden desk, bare save for a piece of paper and a pencil, a full body mirror by the door, and a dresser, with three total drawers. 

The paper was blank, save for a small header, reading ‘To help you remember’. Which was weird, he could remember everything vividly, far more so that he needed, save how he got here. Last he recalled, it was the middle of the harshest winter yet, and he was out, by himself, making sure the area was still safe to travel through, when his memory suddenly snapped to a blank. 

After that, he just woke up here, so the paper didn’t seem useful yet, but he folded it up and placed it in his pocket along with the pencil, figuring it wouldn’t hurt.

Right, onto the dresser next, each of the top two drawers were filled with copies of the clothes he was currently wearing, even another pair of boots, but the third held something far more concerning.

The nicked blade of the knife was only too familiar, as was the worn down grip. He idly brushed his thumb against it, shivering at the knowledge that it was somehow sharper than it was before he woke up here. Either way, he picked it up, along with the sheath, holding the now safer weapon in his left hand as he stood back up.

He looked into the mirror, shocked with what he saw. The scruff that passed for a weak beard that had grown over his chin had been shaved off, and his hair had been cut, going from reaching the bottom of his shoulder blades to only about an inch and a half to two inches long, but still as unruly as ever, sticking up in places here and there, and undoubtedly filled with knots. They couldn’t have at least brushed it?

His fingers ran through the hazel mess, only succeeding in pulling out a few strands, not actually dealing with any of it. He sighed, but looked in the mirror again. His normally dirt covered face had been scrubbed clean, leaving the freckles peeking out of his well tanned face, as the bags had vanished from under his eyes, the deep brown irises of which were clearly visible, as he turned his head from side to side. He looked the same as always, but it had been long enough since he had seen a mirror that he was curious. His cheeks still had that slight hollowness that came with being in nature for as long as he had been, and his forehead still had a patch of small scars that were there purely from one time he had fallen out of a tree, cutting his head against the mulch on the ground.

He came out fine, as seen by him standing still right now, but that just left him with the door. 

The air outside the room was still just as stuffy, but the voice that rang out was somehow worse, high pitched, and robotic, as though it was being spoken through a voice changer.

“The first contestant has left their room! The next to leave will be their partner, for the next 48 hours, so just because you’re out here doesn’t mean you’re safe!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's your protag, those of you paying attention will recognize one Brynt MacAllistar, the Ultimate Camp Counselor, as the man who wakes up in a small room, but that still leaves but one question, who was that speaking there? And what did they mean by partner?
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	3. Prologue: The Calm Before The Storm (Part 2)

The voice faded away in a mess of garbled static, as he took in the room. It was long, and rectangular. He appeared to be on a second level of some sort, facing a wall with four doors visible, each with a name tag.

“Kasey Belinda, Maya Aruma… I feel like I should know these…” He mutters, as he turns around. As he had suspected, the hall was mirrored, with four doors on this side. Weirdly, these names seemed familiar as well. His was second, flanked by Peroen Halloday and Daniel Versity, another pair of names that seemed far too familiar. But before he could figure that out, he heard a door open and shut on the lower floor, before that same far too high voice came back.

“The second contestant has left their room, and is now partnered with the first! From now on, until you are freed from being partners, if you are outside of the dorms, you must stay within fifteen feet of each other! Of course, if you don’t, the only thing you’ll receive is a pair of painful deaths!”

Well, this just went from weird to terrifying. “The fuck you mean deaths?” He heard the person he presumed would be his partner shout, as he made his way downstairs, rounding the corner to see a woman he felt should be more familiar than she was. 

She was dressed in a gray jumpsuit, with a long black braid and a bright yellow hard hat, her face seemingly not having been cleaned, covered in a fine black powder. “The fuck are you starin’ at tree boy?” She barked after we made eye contact, and that was when I noticed a pickaxe was in her hands, clearly sharp, and clearly dangerous, as she hefted it up. “You only got so long to stop being a creep before I make ya!”

Brynt took the chance to put his hands in the air and apologize. “Sorry, you just seemed familiar, but I guess that’s a bit rich, don’t know how we’d know each other. I’m Brynt MacAllistar, just trying to figure out what’s going on. And if that voice is to be believed, I’m also your partner, so we’d better get used to each other, why don’t we say our names and-”   
  
“Were you about to pull out some stupid ass dumb icebreaker game?” The irate pickaxe wielding woman asked, lowering the weapon with a confused look.

“... Maybe…. Old habits die hard I guess.” Brynt offers a laugh, which, to his great relief, the woman returns.   
  


“Alright, anyone who tries that can’t be too evil. Aight, name’s Gina McHerend, where the hell are we?” She walked over to Brynt, giving him a good once over, before stepping back with a shrug.

“I’m afraid I’m as in the dark as you are, but it doesn’t seem we’re the only people here, going off these doors. There’s eight more upstairs, the names are familiar, but I have no idea from where though.” Brynt says with a shrug as he racked his brain for mentions of any of the names he had seen thus far, but failed to dredge any up. 

“Got nothing for ya there, I’ve got less than no clue who the fuckin hell you are.” Gina says with a shrug. “I don’t know, one of these jack offs gotta be smarter than us, they’ll figure some of this shit out, probably.” 

“I guess we can only hope that ends up being true…” Brynt replied, as he stared at the doors, before one opened, another guy, a carefully combed blond hair, light gray eyes with the largest bags under them that either of them had ever seen, with an dark orange shirt, narrowly avoiding being called red, with a lighter, nearly yellow heart in the center, and dark blue jeans. 

“The third contestant has left their room, the next to leave will be their partner, you know the drill at this point.” 

“Man, that voice is damn annoying….” The stranger said, his voice quiet and deep, as though he had just woken up. “Oh, you must be the first two who left, I’m…” He paused to yawn “... Dearen Hayes, but I’m guessing that you also have no idea what’s happening, judging by your faces.”

“Uh, yeah, no shit.” Gina says with a shrug, glaring at Dearen. “The fuck do you know that we don’t?”

“Probably nothing, in fact, I feel I might even know less, but that’s an issue for later.” The mysterious character says with a shrug. “But I have a feeling my partner will exit soon, so I suppose we can only wait for that.” 

And then, as if Dearen’s words brought this into existence, the voice returned. “The fourth contestant has left their room, and has been partnered with the third, same rules apply to you, so don’t mess it up, or I will be bored, and when I’m bored, it’s never fun.” 

“I suppose we should go meet my partner then!” Dearen stumbled off, looking like he was about to pass out as he walked up the stairs. 

“Did he even sleep, or was he just awake in there the entire time we were out?” Gina asked as she went to follow him.

“I am afraid I don’t have an answer for that.” Brynt replies, following her up, seeing the sight of Dearen with a guy, brown hair peeking out from under a red toque, with a very light brown apron that had the design of a plate on it, a knife and fork crossed over it, a black wool jacket, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans finishing that outfit. 

“So I’m your partner?” He asks Dearen, his arms crossed, as he studies the sleepy individual.   
  
“I’m afraid so, Daniel.” Dearen replies, as he turns to face Brynt and Gina. “Ah, you’ve joined us, how wonderful! Daniel, meet the first pair, Brynt, and Gina, Brynt, Gina, meet my partner, Daniel! I don’t believe there’s much more to discover in this area, so why don’t you two go check out the rest of wherever we are, me and Daniel will greet the others here as they leave.”   
  
“I guess if you two want to be the lazy ones, then we can go check it out.” Gina says with a shrug, grabbing Brynt’s arm and dragging him back downstairs. 

“You’re just gonna agree with that? We should be working together to cover as much ground as-” 

“I ain’t putting up with a fight like that, plus he’s probably gonna be sending people out there with us anyways, so we might as well just go out and search on our own.” Gina’s face was covered in a grimace as they reached the door, still clearly unhappy about the current situation. “Our best bet is to not argue, I would’ve thought Mr.Icebreaker would’ve known that.”

“I guess that’s right… well, let’s go deal with whatever’s on the other side of this door.” Brynt pushed it open, revealing an open room, with only a handful of doors, five besides the one they had just exited, though one had a lock and chain on it, directly across from where they were. The ceiling and floor wes made of smooth rock, something Gina seemed rather confused about, as she knelt down to feel it. 

“Weird, this is way too large and smooth to be moved here, it has to be natural and just smoothed out.” Gina mutters to herself, running her hand over the ground with a puzzled look, while Brynt scanned the walls, which, unlike the floor and ceiling, was covered in painted plywood. 

“How do you know all that?” Brynt asks, as he pulls his hand back from the wall, turning to look at her, before idly shuffling closer out of fear of moving too far.

“I- er, my parents were miners, I picked up a lot from being in the room with them while they talked with each other about work, I guess.” Gina replies as she stands up, looking at Brynt as she nodded towards a nearby door. “Come on, let’s check this place out some more.”

“The fifth contestant has left their room, the next to leave will be their partner!”

“So, with sixteen of us, that’s a total of eight pairs, wonder what the point of all of this is.” Brynt says, as he walks to the door, careful to stay close to Gina, not wanting to risk what the voice says being true.    
  
As he pushed open the door, his confusion only grew. “Is this a kitchen?” 

“Sure looks like one to me.” Gina replies with a shrug, as she steps inside. The kitchen was stocked full of food, with fridges, cabinets, and far too many pots, pans, and every other type of cooking device, all over, each seemingly brand new, all the food fresh, ranging from full pork shoulders to mounds of tofu and paneer. 

“Well, at least we won’t starve for a little while, that’s good to know. I just hope that one of us is a better cook than I am, never really had to do much cooking at all.” Brynt comments, as he picks up an apple, tossing and catching it a few times before testing the sink. “And running water too! This place might as well be a resort with these little surprises.”

“If we were at a resort, we would’ve checked in and had our own clothes.” Gina shoots back, though she too was clearly more relaxed now that the knowledge that food would be less of an issue. 

“Yeah, but I’m not sure how much more we can learn from this room, maybe we should head out and investigate the next room.”

“The sixth contestant has left their room, and is now partnered with the fifth, please, find your partner and keep them close!”

“God, that voice fuckin sucks, right?” Gina asks as they exit the kitchen, walking towards the next room.

Brynt couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I can’t help but agree.” He said with a grin, happy that at least one of them could take a break from worrying, but he was stuck in his mind with that, unsure of what was coming next, and, as his previous life had trained him to do, planning out a route to deal with whatever issue might arrive. 

They reached the next door, but before they could enter, a pair of new faces appeared in the door to what the voice called the dorms, a clearly irritated man in a black jacket, dress pants, and a dark blue shirt with a design of a camera on the front paired with an overly energetic girl, dressed in all black, with white swirls marking the only designs on her entire outfit, of a black trench coat with pockets that were full of clearly nearly too many things, black jeans, and a black shirt. 

Upon spotting Brynt and Gina, the girl grabbed the guy’s arm and dragged him over. “Hello~!” She chirped, waving, to which both Brynt and Gina responded with an awkward wave of their own. “I’m Maria Uands, of course, you probably knew that when you saw me, I am pretty famous thanks to my little show~!” 

She then shoved the guy forward, who sighed before speaking. “Ethan Mark. As soon as this introduction bs is done, I’ll be heading back to my room, I’m not putting up with this.” While he spoke, he pulled a comb from his pocket, carefully styling the gelled up blond hair on his head, as light blue eyes studied the odd pair in front of him with more interest than his words would suggest. 

This, of course, was completely unimportant compared to Maria, who, reaching into her pocket, pulled out a disposable camera, the shock of frizzy clearly dyed hair on her head waving around with her exaggerated actions, the bright purple of the hair throwing the entire idea of focus out the window.

“Smile!” She said before taking the photo, giving to time to actually do so. “Aw, you didn’t smile, whatever, I can’t wait to get this all developed!”

And with that she dragged Ethan away, back to the dorms, leaving Brynt and Gina with nothing but more questions.

“So…. into the next room, right?” Gina said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the door.

“Yeah.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you get to meet some more of the cast, Gina, Dearen, Daniel, Maria, and Ethan, all unique and all assuredly going to cause their own spots of drama throughout this entire story, but who knows at this point, maybe none of them even do anything. It's all possible at this point, after all :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	4. Prologue: The Calm Before The Storm (Part 3)

Brynt and Gina stepped into the next room as the lights flickered on, revealing a large room, filled with various pieces of workout equipment, ranging from treadmills to stair-climbing machines, to some things that neither of them had a name for. 

“So, at least we can keep in shape.” Gina says with a shrug, walking over to a weight rack, picking up a fifty pound plate without too much effort.

“Should help to keep our minds off of everything at least a little, yeah.” It was at this point that Brynt recalled that he had his paper and pencil on him, and pulled it out, sketching out a quick map, writing down the names of each room, as he did so, Gina peeking over his shoulder as he did so.

“You’re hardly an artist, you know that?” She says with a smirk, giving Brynt a gentle shrug, causing him to stumble forward.

“I never claimed to be, I’m just surviving off what I know.” 

“Aren’t we all…”

The moment of silence that followed spoke more than either might’ve thought, as they stared at each other, before looking away and walking to the door. 

“Don’t think there’s much more left to find in here, maybe there’s something in the next room?” Brynt asks, before Gina is interrupted by the voice returning.

“The seventh contestant has left their room, and will be partnered with the eighth when they leave.” 

“Come on, let’s check some more of these rooms out.” Gina says, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the next room, however, before they could enter, the voice returned, the interval much shorter this time.

“The eighth contestant has left their room, now find your partner, and get together already!” 

“That was quick, do you just want to wait out here until Dearen sends them out to us?” Bryant suggests as he leans against the wall, looking over to Gina.

“Guess we might as well, not like we got much else to do.” Gina replies, matching up with him on the other side of the door, looking out at the room.

“So… your parents were miners? That’s pretty cool. Both of mine were just office workers, never really spent too much time with me, you know?” Brynt asks, as he looks over to her, trying to puzzle out anything about his partner.

“Yeah, we lived in this real small town, all miners and their kids, I actually spent a chunk of time in the mines, once I was old enough to walk and talk, they had me working in there, well, working as much as you could, as a kid in a cave. Picked up a lot during my life when it comes to caves, and all that.” 

“Yeah, my parents just shipped me out to the woods, let me run wild at summer camp, basically turned into just the yearly routine. Finish school, pack, live out in the woods for a couple months, and head back for another year of school.” Brynt leans his head against

the wall, staring up to the roof, with a sigh, as he thought back to his youth. “They never quite caught the same bug that I did for out there, so it was just my little time away from the normal world.”

“That’s what it was like for me in the mine. I was in there all the time, it just felt right, running around, tracking down coal, finding cool rocks, and smashing things apart, general chaos stuff, with all the order that a bunch of adults with pick axes and a few rocks could enforce. Needless to say, I was basically the mine’s mascot.”

“I just worked at the camp, as my little good deed, pass it all on…” He pauses, before opening his mouth to ask what she meant back in the gym, when the dorms burst open, and the pair of a woman, dressed in a black tuxedo and top hat, and a guy in a pair of light blue jeans, a loose white shirt, and a gray hoodie burst through, the woman theatrical, looking as though she was almost acting, her hands thrown forward with artificial flourish, as the guy followed behind her, staring at her the same way Brynt and Gina were, before the group walked over, the guy with a lazy posture, as though he wasn’t interested in meeting new people, his brown eyes still studying his partner, as his right hand fiddled in his pocket, his left holding a long, y-shaped stick, and his black hair fell in uneven waves across his forehead.

The woman walked as though she was the only person that mattered, leaving the impression of being someone of great importance, as she made her beeline for the pair by the door, the guy rushing to keep up. As soon as she arrived, she stuck her hand out towards Brynt and Gina. 

“Maya Aruma, I assume the name itself is more than enough to explain who I am, I am the greatest director of all time, especially when you look towards my age, some even describing me as the ultimate in my field, far beyond anyone who wishes to challenge my rule.”

“It’s, ah, a pleasure to meet you Maya.” Brynt said as he shook her hand, the name certainly ringing a bell. He didn’t watch movies that often, but her name seemed to pop up multiple times a year, and throughout all genres, leaving her with a fanbase wide enough for her name to at least be heard by most people. “Brynt MacAllistar.”

“And you are?” Maya asks, holding her hand out to Gina.

“Gina McHerend.” Gina looks at Maya’s hand, pausing for a beat before shaking it, turning to the plainly dressed partner of the extravagant director. “Who’re you?”   
  
“I’m Derrick, Derrick Merchail, not a director, just a normal enough guy, I promise.” The plain clothes side of the pair said, as he nodded towards the door. “Dearen said you two were checking out over here, what have you two seen so far?”

“We’ve been through the two over there, but you two should probably investigate for yourselves, get a grip on what this place is like and all that.” Gina said, pointing over to the far side of the room, as she watched Maya’s reaction.

“That sounds simply marvelous, Gina, I suppose that me and Derrick will do so promptly, come now.” With that, Maya turned and walked away, leaving Derrick to rush after her with an awkward wave over his shoulder. 

“Let’s head in here already.” Gina says as she walks into the next room, revealing a large, open area, the walls lined with shelves with piles of spare clothes, ranging from the outfits everyone they had seen were wearing to track suits, to almost any other outfit Brynt could drag to mind. 

“Well, we have food, a place to work out, and a bunch of spare clothes. Not super sure what we can do with that though, other than just live whatever life whoever brought us here has set up.” Gina says, studying one of her spare jumpsuits. 

“The ninth contestant has left their room, hurry up number ten! Before I make you!”

“Come on, let’s see if we can’t check out that last room before we have to meet our next pair of fellow ‘contestants’.” Brynt says as he walks to the door, Gina follows close behind as they stepped out into the main room, only to be met with the voice coming back way sooner than they thought.

“The tenth contestant has left their room, is partnered with the ninth, blah blah, death awaits, blah blah.” 

“Or I guess we wait to meet two more again.” He adds as they move to the final door, watching the doors to the dorms with mild boredom, both standing there silently, both thinking about, but unwilling to broach the subject of the silence in the gym.

Thankfully, it would only be a moment of waiting until a pair of female contestants would approach from the dorms, a small, mousey girl, dressed in thick glasses, and a dress shirt, along with a pair of dress pants, and a taller, stronger one, in a green bandana, wrapped around auburn hair, as the two most striking things about her outfit popped out, a work belt, covered in hammers, screwdrivers, and all other manners of tools, and her hefty safety goggles over her bright blue eyes, along with white jeans, a white turtleneck- wool, most likely- under a light brown apron. 

The mousey one introduced herself first. “Diana Gilden.” Brynt could feel her eyes studying him, before they shifted to Gina. “I do hope the pair of you can be trusted.”

“I hope you are as well, Diana. I’m Gina McHerend.” Gina tried to return the studying look, but ended up just glaring at Diana.

“Oh, well, I’m Aneitha Herald, and, uh, well it’s good to meet both of you!” The taller one is revealed to have an energetic voice, and a kind of youthful tone, seemingly unfazed by the world around her in the moment.

“Well, it’s excellent to meet you as well, I’m Brynt MacAllistar.” He holds his hand out for either of them to shake, Aneitha taking the opportunity first, shaking his hand happily, before Diana does as well, with what felt like a calculated handshake, careful grip, but firm, a few pumps, but not too many. 

“Well, I suppose that the two of us will go try and find that other pair that’s out there right now, with the director lady, and the other guy.” Aneitha says, taking Diana’s hand, and guiding her away.

“Well, that just leaves one more room to check out, right?” Gina opens the door, stepping into the final room, revealing two more doors.

“Are these bathrooms?” A shocked Brynt asks, as he looks at the clearly visible signs, each clearly marked, one male, and one female, as the pair of confused partners look at each other. 

“Well, this is gonna get awkward.” Gina says, shrugging slightly, as she pushes open the door to the women's room, verifying that it was, indeed, a bathroom. “At least they gave us showers.” 

“It’s the little things, hey?” Brynt says with a laugh, pushing the men’s open as well, checking it out as well. “Looks pretty much the same in here. Showers and all.” 

“The eleventh contestant has left their room, and will be paired with the twelfth. You’re almost all there! The last five, hurry up already.”

“Well, I guess we should check out the last thing that matters.” Brynt says as he walks out into the main room, pointing at the last door, with the large chain and padlock. 

“Yup, time to puzzle that out.” Gina says, as they walk over, Gina kneeling down, studying the lock as Brynt stood by, looking at the door, trying to figure out what could be beyond it. 

“The twelfth contestant has left their room, may you all prepare for the time you will spend with your partner, as the twelfth will with the eleventh.” 

“Well, these two should be out here soon, going off what we’ve seen so far.” Brynt comments, as he turns to look back at the dorm room door. 

Of course, it was under three minutes until another weird pair exited the room, an average looking student holding a textbook to her chest alongside a gangly, stick thin, man, wearing a tank top, and shorts, blue and red in colour respectively, and black sunglasses in his brown hair, as he made his way to the odd pair fiddling with a lock with his partner. 

“Howdy you two, I’m Micheal Gerends, and this my, ah, partner, Kasey Belinda.” The man says, as the demure student waves, and the cover of her textbook comes into focus, a grade 12 biology book, filled with sticky notes and dog eared pages.

“I’m Brynt MacAllistar, and the one doing work here is Gina McHerend, I got paired up with her.” 

“It’s nice to meet you two…” Kasey speaks, nearly silently, as she peers up at the pair of us with gentle green eyes, through her brown hair, clearly unsettled. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet ya as well, girl.” Gina says over her shoulder, as she drops the lock. “Damn thing’s sturdy, I don’t know if we can break it. Guess we should wait to see what happens when everyone’s out here.”

“Sounds good to me, do you want to head back to the dorms and wait there for the last handful then?” Brynt asks, looking over to Gina as she stands up, before the voice picks back up.

“The Thirteenth contestant has left their room. Oooh, unlucky, how fun!” 

“Might as well head over there, get to see who all is left.” She replies, as she looks over to Kasey and Micheal. “What are you two gonna do?”

“Probably explore a bit. I’m feeling stiff, and Kasey seems like she just wants something to do, so that seems like a good option.” Micheal replies, Kasey giving a slight nod of agreement. “So, see ya later then.” 

Gina and Kasey wave as they leave, before the pair that was going to the dorms arrived there, the voice popping in right before they entered.

“The fourteenth student has left their room, so get your unlucky partner, and have a good time!” 

“Guess we can get to know them quickly then.” Brynt says as he walks in, as they walk into the sight of Dearen pointing at the door, before seeing Brynt and Gina returning.

“Ah, you’re back, well, in that case, the two of us will go explore, and you two can send out the last pair. See you guys later…” With that, Dearen leaned against Daniel, who sighed and helped him out into the main room, as Brynt and Gina were able to focus in on the new pair, a blond man in a loose, full black outfit next to a woman in a dress shirt, rolled all the way up, with a painfully expensive camera hanging around her neck, and a fedora, furiously writing in a notepad.

“O-oh, h-hey there, I’m J-Jake Henry…” That was another name that sparked memories, but this time, as an actor, but, despite that, the stutter was weird at best, mostly as Jake was famous for his roles in action movies, where he never even seemed to have any fears. 

“Hm? Oh, hello, Likian Erned here, reporting in!” The other spoke, waving as she walked up the pair quickly. “Who are you two? What can you do? Where are we?”

“One question at a time, some of us need to take breaths before we can talk.” Gina teases, as she lightly punches Likian in the arm. “I’m Gina McHerend, and this is my assigned bitch, Brynt MacAllistar.” 

“Hey!” 

“Oh, whatever.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet both of you, I can’t wait to interact with you two more!” At the very least, Likian was energetic.

“I look forward to our future meetings as well.” Brynt replies, shaking her hand. 

“Us two will now go investigate the world outside those doors!” Likian says, as she grabs Jake, dragging him away. 

“And it’s back to us, alone once again, until we can meet our last new contestants.” Gina says with a shrug, before a door opens on the first floor, as a woman in thick, flame proof gloves and pants, with a red t-shirt, a dark brown apron, and a welding mask steps out.

“The fifteenth contestant has left their room! One more to go! Finally, the last one of you suckers, get out here!” 

“Well, I suppose it was about time I headed out to here.” She comments, in a thick southern accent, as she walks over to Brynt and Gina. “Name’s Alenda Geirth, what can y’all tell me about what’s going on that that voice doesn’t already tell me?”

“I’m afraid not Alenda, I’m Brynt MacAllistar, but there’s nothing else left in here that you can’t find out by just looking around, but you should wait and make sure that your partner comes out here first.”

“The sixteenth, and FINAL, contestant has finally left their room, thank the lord, so get out here!” 

Pretty soon after that, a man in a bright orange windbreaker and khaki shorts with a climbing harness, covered in brightly coloured ropes, came down the stairs. “Which of you four is my partner, cause I’d rather not die.”

“That’d be me, buddy, Alenda Geirth, these two are Brynt MacAllistar and Gina Herend, who might you be?”

“I’m Peroen Halloday, and if I recall right, I should be okay telling you that I’m the Ultimate Rock Climber.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now what might that mean? And what does Peroen remember? Find out all of that (and more) next time!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	5. Chapter One, Part One: The Start Of Terror

It felt like a bomb had just gone off in the room, as the four gathered in the area stared at each other like each had just fired a gun, fear suddenly covering their faces. 

The silence was broken by Gina charging across the room, using her pickaxe to pin Peroen against the wall, anger suddenly burning in her eyes.

“The hell do you mean by that? Don’t you know how dangerous saying shit like that is? I ain’t letting anyone know about any of that just because some dumbass thought that it would be a good idea to mention that shit!” She hissed, as Peroen suddenly sighed in relief, seeming to realize what her words meant.

“Look, all I know is that you’re all like me, and every single other name up there on the second floor of this place should be as well. They left me with this.” He fishes into his pocket and reveals a piece of paper, holding it out to Gina, who steps away reluctantly, as she unfolds it, reading it.

“Okay, well, that’s a little bit reassuring. Looks like we’re all part of this shit. Check it out.” 

She hands it to Alenda, who then hands it to Brynt, as he studies the photograph of the entire group that was now in this place with them, the banner behind them in what looks like a school gym reads ‘We Welcome Our First Ultimates!’, as Brynt stands front and center, flanked by Peroen and Aneitha, who appear to both be giving Brynt bunny ears, Alenda stifling a laugh while Jake nervously glances at Maya, who stands off to the side, facing the camera with a careful smile. Diana and Kasey are off to the side, both studying a book, though the text is unreadable, Maria holding a fake spider, as Derrick flinches back, her smile wide, as her laughter almost feels audible. Gina glares at Ethan, who is backing away with his hands held up in defense, Daniel presenting a bowl, filled with colourful fruits, to an interested Likian, as she writes furiously in a notebook, with Dearen and Micheal looking over the group from the background, leaning against the wall. 

“So all of us are Ultimates? Cause that makes my life a chunk easier, guess I can tell y’all I’m the Ultimate Blacksmith.” Alenda says, as she visibly relaxes. 

“We’re pretty similar then, I’m the Ultimate Miner.” Gina says, hefting her pickaxe up. “Though I guess that wasn’t too hard to guess.”

“And I’m the Ultimate Camp Counselor, we should gather everyone up in this room though, so we can share this info.”

“Sounds good, come then Peroen, let’s head out and gather everyone we can!” 

“Alright, that works with me.” Peroen pushes the doors open, peeking out, looking around. “Me and Alenda will take the left rooms, you guys take the right, and then we can deal with all of them at once.”   
  


At that, the pair left, leaving Brynt and Gina to shrug and agree, collecting the group in the dorms, returning to see everyone there, watching as Peroen held up the photo, before passing it around, letting everyone see it. 

“So the good news about this is that we appear to be safe from persecution, and we can relax about that, so we can go around and share our talents. I’m the Ultimate Rock Climber, Alenda is the Ultimate Blacksmith, and we have learned Brynt and Gina’s talents as well, those being the Ultimate Camp Counselor, and the Ultimate Miner respectively, so please, share yours so we can all trust each other.”

The first to speak up is Aneitha, who raises her hand before speaking. “I’m the Ultimate Woodworker, so I can deal with…” her energy dies off as she thinks, before popping back up, “Oh! Like, wood and stuff!” She smiles widely, Ethan stifling a laugh, as he stares at her. 

“Well, I’m not going to work with wood, or any of that, but I am the Ultimate Male Model, so I trust you all will treat me with the honour I have earned.” Ethan says, smirking as he stares at the group.

“I ain’t treating you better than anyone else, you jerk….” Kasey murmurs, staring at Ethan from her position against the wall across the room. “I’m just the Ultimate Student, not really a talent worth anything…”

“Well, it seems we were friends before this all, so I suppose your skill couldn’t be useless, as I am the Ultimate Cryptologist.” Diana says, walking across the room, settling in next to Kasey. “No reason to cause any extra anger in the group.”

“Well,” Maya takes her turn to step forward, “I’m sure you all know who I am, the Ultimate Director, so you can get your applause over with now.” 

“I’ll pass.” Micheal says, shrugging. “I’m the Ultimate Contortionist, but I won’t show it off, got it?”

“I-I should pro-probably get mine out of the way now…” Jake mutters, looking up awkwardly, “I’m the Ultimate Actor, I, uh, I came to the school just because I heard Maya was there and I wanted to work with her…”

“Oh, how fascinating!” Likian piped in, before realizing that the attention was now on her. “Oh, uh, the Ultimate Reporter, don’t mind me…”

“I guess I’ll take my turn then, I’m the Ultimate Diviner… I can, uh, find things really well…” Derrick admits, watching the group nervously.

Daniel then steps forward, before speaking his turn. “I’m the Ultimate Dietitian, so I’ll be cooking, after what I’ve heard so far!” He laughs quietly, watching the group with a grin. “Oh, come on, I’m just being honest.”

All eyes then turned to Dearen, who had been silent in the corner the entire time, before smiling gently. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know mine. Can’t seem to recall it at all.”

“What do you mean by that?” Brynt spoke as he walked over to Dearen. “Is it just an unknown, or what?”

“Well, I try to think about it, and just… nothing comes up. But I was there, so I should know at least a little bit about that, but there’s just nothing in my mind. Don’t know how, but we might learn in the future.” 

“Guess we’ll have that to look forward to as we reach act two.” Maya dryly commented, before grabbing Derrick. “If you’ll excuse us, we will return to learning more about this twisted land.”

Before they could leave, the sound of the door locking rang through the room and the crackling static of the speakers started up again. 

“Oh no, you can’t leave right yet, there’s rules for you all to learn first, so please, return to your rooms and retrieve the present left for you there!” The voice said, before the speakers died, and everyone silently agreed to do so, figuring it was the best way to learn about what was happening. 

As Brynt stepped through his door, it locked behind him, and he walked further in, silently drawing his knife out of fear before seeing the wrapped present on his bed.

It was wrapped in forest print wrapping paper, about an eighth of an inch thick, a foot long, and about 5-6 inches wide. The paper fell away easily, revealing the tablet that was housed beneath. As soon as he picked it up, his name displayed over a bright background, dark green in colour, matching his shirt, as it faded into a menu reading ‘Profiles’, ‘Notes’, ‘Map’, and ‘Rules’. 

A moment after he picked up the tablet, the voice returned.

“Please, select the Rules option and read the rules. Each is punishable by death, so follow them all.” 

Brynt swallows the thick pit of terror that swelled in his throat as he hit the button. 

‘Rule 1: Until 48 hours have passed during the game after the exit of the sixteenth contestant, all contestants must stay within 15 feet of their assigned partners while outside of the dorms.’

‘Rule 2: No contestant is allowed to leave the premises of the game until they have won, or the game is otherwise declared over.’

‘Rule 3: In order to win the game, one contestant must murder another, and not be caught.’

‘Rule 4: Once a murder is commited, and the body has been found by three contestants who are not the killer, an announcment will play, and an hour long countdown will start. At the end of the countdown, the trial will begin.’

‘Rule 5: The trial will be one and a half hour long, and at the end, all living participants will vote, and select who they believe committed the crime.’

‘Rule 6: Once a perpetrator has been found, if the group is correct, only the perpetrator will be punished, however, if they are wrong, then every contestant who didn’t commit the crime will die, and the remaining contestant wins.’

‘Rule 7: If the perpetrator is found during each case, then the last two remaining contestants win.’

‘Rule 8: The Gamemaster can add a rule at any time they wish.’

Brynt slowly put the tablet down, sitting down on the bed as he heard his door unlock. 

What was this place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that leaves a handful of questions still, doesn't it? Have fun figuring it out :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	6. Chapter One, Part Two: The Start Of Terror

Brynt steps out into the hall finding the sight of Maya standing outside of her room, frantically studying a sheet of paper before folding it up and putting it in her back pocket upon seeing Brynt. 

“So, I’m assuming you read the rules as well…” Brynt asks quietly, staring at the still closed doors in silent terror, knowing one thing was true. No matter what was said, everyone had a side they wouldn’t touch that came out when things got too tough, hell, everyone here had probably seen that side.

A quick memory of a blizzard snapped through Brynt’s mind, a small fire, and a chunk of nondescript meat on the whittled stick over the poorly protected flame, as he stared at the snow with snow stuck to his skin along the thin lines his tears had left in the dirt marking his face.

He snaps back to the current moment, looking at Maya once more.

“Yeah… who the hell sent us here?” She asks, crossing her arms across her chest as she leans back against the wall. “I… Maybe we should just… Talk with everyone once they’re out of their rooms…”

“That sounds good to me, I’ll meet you downstairs then.” Brynt replies softly, giving a soft smile as he walks downstairs, finding an empty room, slowly sitting down on the stairs, looking at eight still doors, as the silence of the world fills his ears, but not the silence he loved. The silence of electricity, humming through lights and wires, of mechanically cleaned air escaping through vents, of the world most people knew. 

Of the world that isn’t his.

The silence was broken as a door opened, and Kasey stepped out, her face blank, emotionless, and her eyes ringing hollow of light. “Hey Brynt…” She mutters, as she walks over to him, settling down without a noise, and opening her textbook to a seemingly random page. “I’m going to assume you want everyone to meet in here, right? So we can talk about the rules of this test?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. So far, it seems like only you, me, and Maya have left our rooms, but, uh, what do you mean by test? This doesn’t seem like any test I had to take…” Brynt peeks over her shoulder, reading a few words about the causes of various disease symptoms, before leaning away, not really understanding any of it. 

“Well, I get that the rules make it seem bad, but I’m good at tests, so this should be okay as long as it is a test. I’ve never failed one before, so I just have to win and pass it, right?”

Brynt felt the slightest hint of unrest in his gut at her words, before speaking in turn. “Yeah, I just hope it doesn’t come to any of us actually… doing that…”

“It isn’t part of my plan to win.” Kasey had a confidence in her words that went beyond any sort of emotion that she had shown before, as she gripped her book tightly, nails that had clearly been trimmed by chewing biting into the cover. 

“I’m glad to hear that, but I’m assuming I can’t know your plan. Doesn’t feel wise to share such a thing.”

“Yup. Have to have some secrets.” The energy and emotion drew back away from her voice, as she closed her eyes for half a second before opening them again as footsteps approached from above. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything between you two~.” Peroen teased, as he leapt over the pair, landing with excellent form, spinning on his heels to face them. “I’d hate to be a spoil sport.”

“We were just talking…” Kasey says before Brynt has fully taken in what just happened.

“Yeah, there happens to be a lot to talk about very suddenly.” Brynt says, his voice somber, as he looks at Peroen, who slumps against the wall.

“Dang, I was hoping I could go a few minutes without having to think about that, but you just gotta be a downer, don’t ya?” He says, fiddling with a length of blue rope, as he runs his fingers along it before playing with the carabiner.

“Not trying to be, but it’s a major issue, one we all need to discuss.” Brynt counters, despite his own voice seeming to grow tired at the mention of it as well. “Let’s just hope everyone can get here soon.”

It was at that moment that another door opened, but before anyone exits, slams shut again, Brynt looking between the two in front of him before walking over, Peroen sliding in to steal his seat, as Brynt knocks on the door, reading Aneitha’s name as he does so.

The door slowly cracks open, as a clearly frightened Aneitha peers out, tears still resting in the corners of her eyes. “I… I don’t want to come out right now, if that’s okay…”

“That’s fine, but do you want to talk about anything? This is a hard thing to stomach, so I can understand if you want to be alone, but talking about it can also help.”

“I-I..” She stammered for a moment, before opening the door, allowing Brynt in. 

Her room was decorated like a wood cabin, the wallpaper looking as though it was made of logs stacked up, with her bed covered in a smoothed out comforter, patterned with the appearance of wood grain, as she collapsed down into it, Brynt shutting the door as he walks to her desk chair, pulling it out as he sat down, a slight smile is all he’s able to muster, as he eased himself into his seat.

“So… is there anything about the rules you want to talk about in particular? Or is it just… normal fear about what might happen?”

Aneitha wiped her eyes with her sleeves, sniffling gently as she picked up the tablet on her bed, staring at it as the light flickered on, illuminating her face from another angle, as the pain on her face only became more visible thanks to that. 

“I don’t want to be part of anything like this…” She murmurs, as she pulls her legs up to her chest, her head rolling forward until it rests on her knees, as she slowly turns it to the side, staring at the wall with a quiet whimper. “I’m… I’m not going to live long during this, am I? It’s not like I could ever kill, but I’m an easy target, right? I’m just… me…”

“Nobody’s going to die if I have anything to say about Aneitha.” The sudden burst of conviction that filled him as he spoke those words surprised even him, as he stood up, clenching his fist at his side, stern eyes staring out at the world as if the walls that held them all weren’t even there. 

“Do.. do you promise?”

“Yes.” That was a lie. Never make a promise you can’t keep. He shouldn’t have said that. That’s rule number one. “I promise.”

“Thank you…”

That’s when another knock came at the door, Aneitha nodding for Brynt to answer as she lowered her legs to the ground again, trying to convince herself to stand.

Brynt cracked open the door, to see Alenda. “Is Aneitha ready to come out? Cause all of us are ready for one of y’all to do some talking.”

Without a thought Brynt replied as he felt his stomach twisting into knots. “We’ll be right out, and I’ll talk. We can figure something out for all of our sakes.”

He turned back to see Aneitha, who walked up behind him before they both stepped out into the room, and 14 pairs of eyes locked onto Brynt as this group begged for anything to help them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave comments. As always, I will interact with everyone as best I can while releasing new chapters as often as I can. I would love to hear your theories. Who knows, maybe one of you will guess the exact plot, but that's not very likely. Doesn't mean you can't try :)
> 
> Also, I want some input from you! Starting with this upcoming update, I want to do something to replace the free time events, so I want your characters that you want to hear more from, give me up to 4 so I can feed you some more content with them! Thanks!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	7. Chapter One, Part Three, The Start Of The Terror

Twenty eight.

Twenty eight scared eyes, angry eyes, confused eyes, helpless eyes.

Twenty eight eyes in fourteen scared faces, horrified, a few emotionless, a few inquisitive, but all looking at him.

He allows Aneitha to walk past him, as she joins the crowd, twenty eight becoming thirty.

“So, I understand that we have a slight issue, however, there is no reason to jump to conclusions, or to hasty actions that we have not thought out. We can all survive this, and we will. I will protect you all to the best of my ability, and I don’t intend to allow any of you to die as long as I can control it.” 

The eyes still stared at him, but he could feel the confusion and fear about to boil over into the words that would try and tear down anything that he was starting to build up. 

“We have to remain calm, and stay collected, and I think a good first step would be to have something to eat. Daniel, would you mind taking everyone over to the kitchen and making something for us to eat? Something in our stomachs will keep us calmer. Of course, Gina, you’re going to need to stay, as I have to deal with something in here first.” 

“Sure thing Brynt, I’ll make something great for everyone here to enjoy, let’s head over!” Daniel replies with a large grin, and turns to leave, the bulk of the group shuffling away as Gina walked back over to Brynt.

“What’s your plan then Brynt?” Gina asks after they all leave.

“Where did you find that pickaxe?” 

“The bottom drawer of my dresser, why?”

“Because that’s where I found my knife. So I’m going to check everyone’s drawers and take any weapons we find.” 

Gina reacted with wide eyes, before nodding. “That seems incredibly smart. Looks like at least one of us were able to think it all through. Where do you want to start?”

“Let’s start with Alenda and work our way around the floor.”

Gina nods as they walk into the room, revealing walls painted with flames as though it’s in the center of a forge, the bed looking as though it’s covered in a sheet of metal. 

The drawer opens easily, revealing a large hammer, Gina picks it up, hefting it over her shoulder. “Alright, so we got our first weapon, let’s head next door.”

The rest of the rooms would yield varying results, leading to items being taken from Diana, that being a book, written in a code, Dearen, a book listing various ways to use people's emotions against them, Jake, a set of latex masks that matched a few of the other contestants, Ethan, a steel lockbox, and Daniel, a set of kitchen knives, the remaining rooms empty of any weapons, as the ones taken were sealed in Brynt’s room. 

“We should go meet up with the others, and make sure to talk with everyone that had their weapons gone, don’t want too many things being left out there, just in case.” Gina notes as they stand in the middle of the second floor, Brynt nodding as they walk downstairs, making their way to the kitchen without any interruptions, walking in on everyone chatting much more jovially, Derrick teased a far too careful Maya as she tried to eat her share without letting anything hit her tuxedo, despite his own messed up shirt.

Diana and Kasey were sitting next to each other, reading the textbook together, seeming to have been stuck at the hip, Diana writing out various codes in the margins for Kasey to solve. Alenda and Aneitha were drawing up a blueprint, the honest joy on Aneitha’s face was a relief to Brynt after their talk. Daniel was seated next to Dearen, listening intently to the dietitian’s description of what he made and why he made it. Likian was pestering Ethan and Jake with what seemed like infinite questions, both the actor and model looking distinctly uncomfortable. 

Finally, Maria, Peroen, and Micheal were all sitting at the end of the table, Peroen and Maria exchanging jokes and Micheal watched them with silent amusement, Brynt and Gina sliding into position at the two open seats, digging into their own meals. 

The rest of it went by pretty quickly, pairs quickly shuffling off soon after they arrived as Brynt suddenly realized that he had nothing to do after this, before Maria and Ethan sat down across from them, the comedian smiling widely as she did so, the model clearly less enthused.

“So…. you two kissed yet?” Maria asked very suddenly, smiling widely as both Gina and Brynt looked at each other in shock. “So you haven’t, boooorrrrrring!” 

“Is that why you made me join in on this?” Ethan asked quietly, sighing and still looking bored. “I already told you that I wanted to grab something before we went to work out. I’m not allowing this to take away my life.” 

“Oh come on you coward, live a little! Oh! I just had a great idea! Why don’t we play a game? How about… truth or dare? Learn a little about each other, get to see you two kiss, I mean, come on, the tension there is palpable. Star crossed lovers, doomed to be partners in games of life and death… would bring a tear to Willy Shakes eye!” Maria changed her tone as she talked, embodying different characters, as she rummaged in her pocket, finally pulling out a pair of fake lips. “Here, you can practice with this Brynt!” 

“Look, I don’t know what the fuck you’re on about, but I ain’t kissing Brynt. That’s a no go for me.” Gina says, waving her arms through the air as though trying to dispel smoke. “I ain’t telling you why, but it ain’t for me.”

“I’m fine with that as well.” Brynt throws in, holding his hands up as well. “I, uh, don’t think it would be appropriate.”

“Yeah, we should just leave these two alone, they probably just want some alone time~” Ethan jumps in on the teasing with a smirk, wiggling his finger between the camper and the miner. 

“We don’t need any alone time, we can just play something other than truth or dare. How about a quick round of never have I ever?” Gina suggests, holding up her hand. “Y’all know how to play, right?”

“I don’t play many drinking games, but you get five lives, every turn, you say something you’ve never done, and if someone else has done it, they put down their finger? Last person standing wins?” Ethan asks, as he raises his own hand. 

“That’s it exactly!” Maria says excitedly, raising her hand, Brynt shrugging as he does the same.

“I’ll start then.” Gina says, as she thinks for a moment. “Never have I ever… let’s start off tame… broken something I don’t own.” 

All three of the other people put down a single finger, to which none of them seemed to be surprised, until Ethan spoke up. “How have you never broken anything you didn’t own?”

“I’m careful, apparently.” 

“... fair. Brynt, you go next.”

“Um… never have I ever… broken my leg.” 

Gina is the only one to put down a finger. “Caught a rock awkward in the mine once, my leg twisted, and I came down hard. Broke my tibia, or whatever. How about you go now Ethan?”

“Sure. Never have I ever stolen something.”

Brynt was the only one safe from this round, Maria and Gina both lowering their fingers. 

“That leaves it as my turn!” Maria cheers, as she jumps up and down in her own seat. “Never have I ever been in an accident!”

Gina and Ethan put their fingers down, though the expression on Gina’s face left more questions raised than answered by the admission. 

“My turn.” Her voice had turned as cold as an icy rain storm as the fire you carefully tended to fades out. “Never have I ever been kicked out of a building.” 

Maria is the only one to put a finger down, shrugging and laughing to herself. “It was one banana peel, no big deal, but whatever.” 

A camper’s eyes darted around the group as he nervously tried to conjure his words. “Never have I ever been… umm… been noticed by a fan?”

Ethan, Maria, and Gina all put a finger down at that, Maria and Gina suddenly sitting on the edge of being knocked out of the game. However, everyone turned and locked eyes on Gina out of surprise. 

“I’m the Ultimate Miner, I live in a mining town, someone moved in and geeked out. No idea why.”

Ethan then clears his throat, as he sits up straighter. “Never have I ever hiked a mountain. And no complaining about this camper boy, you should get on the same level as us.”

To nobodies shock, Brynt was the only one to lower a finger, as he scratched the back of his neck shyly. “There’s nothing wrong with liking nature more than the city…”

“Never said there was, but there wasn’t any reason for you to only be down one finger at this point, come on man!”

“Welllllllllll, now it turns back to my turn!” Maria cheers, smiling widely. “Never have IIIIIII ever been hunting!” She continues to smile wide with her words.

Only Brynt lowers a finger again, as he shrugs. “You spend enough time outdoors, you end up needing to hunt.” He admits with a shrug.

The turn passed back to Gina, who studied the group with a sigh. “Never have I ever been on stage~.” He wide smile spoke tons as she stared at Ethan and Maria, both of whom put down a finger, Maria being knocked out as Ethan reached the same precipice.

“Now you’re targeting us!” Ethan proclaimed, throwing his hands up. 

“Karma, my dear friend, hits us all in the end.” 

Ethan continues to mutter as Brynt’s turn begins. “Never have I ever… been caught doing something illegal!”

Ethan puts down his final finger with a grumble. “Well, looks like Gina wins, excellent job Brynt.”   
  


“Still my team who ended up with the win though! But I had fun, it was good to get to know all of you a bit more, but I think I want to get moving again.” Brynt confided, as he moved to stand up. “My legs hate having to stay still for too long.”

“Works for me. I wanted to grab something sooner rather than later anyways. I suppose I’ll see you all when we meet up for dinner then?” Ethan replies as he stands, motioning for Maria to follow him, which she does, the pair slipping out of the room quickly. 

“Well, that was fun. What's up now?" 

“I was thinking we could head over to the dorms, spend a bit of time with whoever is around.”

“That works for me, after all, everyone can get tired of anyone~.” Gina punched his shoulder gently, with a smirk. 

“Wow, rude.” Brynt replies as they walk away, over to the dorms, splitting up quickly.

“Alright, where to next?” Brynt asks himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO incredibly sorry that this took so long! As an apology, I will try to get the next one up as soon as possible, however, life might start slowing me down a bit more starting in a few weeks, but I will try my best to finish this for everybody who ever wants to read this story! 
> 
> If you ever are wondering when the next part will be, or if you simply want to get to know a tiny bit more about me, feel free to leave a comment, or reach out to me via the tumblr! I will try to reply to everything within a day (though I might not notice a comments for a little bit), and I would love to give y'all some extra content to enjoy!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	8. Chapter One, Part Four: The Start Of The Terror

Gina had just vanished into her room when the most mysterious of the group walked down the stairs, locking eyes with Brynt for a fraction of a second before walking over.

“You seem confused, what’s wrong?” The tired blond asked, as he stood in front of Brynt, the slight difference in height becoming rather obvious, though quickly mitigated by Deren leaning against the wall next to Brynt.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Brynt started as he leaned next to Dearen, looking out over the dark blue hall, “I was just wondering what I should do next. I can’t exactly leave the area, as Gina’s gone over to her room to rest a while, but it seems you’ve found a way to answer my question here.”

“I suppose I have.”

“I mean, I guess a break would do us all well, this is more than a little stressful, and a moment of respite never goes amiss. Maybe we should do some group meditation! That always helps the older kids keep a cooler head!” 

“I don’t think everyone here would be incredibly interested in meditation.” Dearen admits this with a quiet chuckle, looking over to Brynt with tired eyes. “Maybe we could do some type of game, but that might have to wait until the partner thing has come and gone, right?”

“Yeah, it probably would. I wonder what type of game we could run in here though, not enough cover for camouflage, not really open enough for something like capture the flag, not enough area for a tag of any sort…” The head of the counselor leaned back against the wall as he closed his eyes, mentally scanning for a game that would be playable in this area. “Not really many good options for a group as big as ours… but there’s always a game, no matter what! I’ll figure something out.”

“I’m sure you will, what else could we expect from the one and only Ultimate Camp Counselor?”

“I hope not too much else… I’m not exactly a pro at much outside of that job… never had a chance to really train up any other skills. It was either school or outdoors, nothing in between with me.”

“That’s where you and I show our differences, I spent all my time indoors, never really even talked to people, no matter how freely they talked with me.” A deep breath is followed by a pause, as the blond looked over to Brynt, who had taken the chance to stand upright once again, his eyes deeply entrenched in thought.

“What do you mean by that?” The silence is broken by Brynt’s words, though they only managed to cause a look of confusion to cross the face of the mysterious ultimate. “By ‘no matter how freely they talked with me’?”

“Oh, that.” The reply makes it seem as though this was a normal enough question for Dearen to receive. “I didn’t speak until I was eight. But plenty of kids would still talk at me. Guess I must be the Ultimate Listener with that as what was happening.” A dull smile spreads across his face, as he closes his eyes, thinking back to his younger life. “Most of the time, they’d just ramble about this and that, never anything too important.” 

“That’s… a new one. You would’ve been an interesting camper to have.”

“If my skin tone could tell you anything, it’s that I was never a camper.” Hints of a laugh tease at Dearen’s voice as he raises a hand to put his vampire-like complexion on show, managing to elicit a laugh from Brynt as the pair took the chance to compare their tans. Despite it being winter last Brynt could remember, he was still much darker than Dearen. “I suppose you win that contest, not like I put up a challenge.”

“I’m sure there are many contests you could destroy me in yet.” Brynt replies as Dearen stands up. “Where are you going?”

“Well, you seem in a good mood, so I should do my best to give everyone else their own little chat, keep the mood high, and all that.”

“Fair enough, see you later then.” As Brynt waves, Dearen vanishes upstairs, leaving the camper alone once more. 

After a moment, he joined the mysterious Ultimate upstairs, ducking into his room, lying down for a moment until his eyes finally found their way closed and he drifted to sleep.

After a moment, a knock on the door stirred him. “On my way…” He mutters as he pulls himself to his feet, opening the door to Gina. 

“Hey, Daniel wanted me to grab everyone. He’s made dinner, and I want to eat it.”

“Fair enough, just give me a second, just woke up.” 

“Of course, but don’t take long. I’m hungry.” With that, she vanished back downstairs as Brynt did his best to smooth out his hair before walking down, joining Gina on an adventure to the kitchen, both of them arriving and sitting down across from Peroen and Alenda.

“Hey there friends, welcome to dinner, sorry none of us waited for y’all though, we were getting hungry.” 

“All good Alenda, as long as there’s still food for us.” Gina remarks with a laugh, pulling her plate closer to her. “I was getting hungry too, but sleepyhead here was slooooooow.”

“Okay, that’s not my fault, you could have woken me up earlier.” 

“.... shut up.” Gina starts to eat her meal with sudden fervor, as Brynt begins to eat as well, before Peroen speaks up.

“What do you guys want to do when we get out of here? I’m gonna find a big hill, and sit at the top of it, out in nature and all that.” Brynt asked, smiling with the same typical optimism that he usually had.

“I was planning to go home, make sure everyone’s still okay.” Gina replies as she takes a break from eating, before returning to her dish.

“I’m gonna go back home, make sure mum’s okay, and get back to work at the forge! Had a handful of jobs left to do before all this happened, and I ain’t letting this take all that away from me.”

“I’m… probably just gonna spend more time out in the world. Not really much else for me to do, with all of what happened out there.” A silence fell over the small group before a crackle of static hushed the entire table, as the voice of the very thing keeping them here spoke up.

“Helllllllllllo, my contestants, it’s me, your favourite gamemaster, here with something to help you get going! If you don’t have a dead body for me by the morning, I will find and destroy the very thing you love the most in the outside world! So have fun figuring out who gets to stick around for all of that!” 

The silence that hung over the group was deafening, as Ethan stood up, grabbing Maria and storming out, muttering something under his breath. It didn’t take long until the group had all made their ways back to their rooms. 

The painful silence of the world left every one of them feeling less than prepared, and when the morning finally came around, the only thing left for everyone to feel was the utter terror of the world they now had to live in. 

Brynt’s eyes blinked open, before he shucked off his covers, rolling to the edge of his bed before sitting up, blinking twice and leaping to his feet, moving over to his dresser, grabbing a new outfit as he quickly opened the bottom drawer of his dresser.

His heart dropped into his stomach as his eyes shot wide open.

Every single one of the items that him and Gina had collected were gone. 

His breath caught in his throat, but he swallowed down the fear as he gathered his clothing and walked out of his room, planning on investigating the showers in the bathroom, running into Alenda immediately. 

“Have you seen Peroen? I was planning on going over with Daniel and Dearen to hang out while Daniel cooks, but I can’t find him anywhere.”

“I haven’t seen him, just woke up actually. Have you checked his room?”

“I knocked a couple times, didn’t get a single response though.”

Brynt sighed at that, marching down the hall and knocking on Peroen’s door. “Peroen? You there buddy?” 

After a moment of silence, Brynt tried the door handle. 

The door swung open, a gust of cold air rolling over his calves as he did so. 

With one last glance at Alenda, the world started to collapse.

He stepped into the room, and saw a scene that punched the air from his lungs. 

A chair that had toppled onto the floor, haphazardly, the bed was messy, looking like someone had been tossing and turning in it, clothes scattered about, all the drawers open and empty, but the centerpiece of this nightmare rested dead center.

A rope, bright green, tied to a climbing anchor stuck in the ceiling, trailing down to a limp, unmoving form.

The lifeless body of the Ultimate Rock Climber, Peroen Hallowday, hanging limply from the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well............
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	9. Chapter One, Investigation: The Start Of The Terror

For a moment the world held still, until Gina and Alenda both entered the room, both falling silent as well, as a familiar static booted up.

“A body has been found, the hour starts now! I hope you all figure out the truth for your own sakes! Oh, I also left you all a little present on your tablets, so check it out you idiots.”

The static faded and silence overtook the room, as the trio stared at the body.

“Brynt, you should go talk with everyone. You’re the best at that. Me n’ Gina can keep watch in here for a while. Make sure nobody messes with him or anything.”

A limp nod is all the contestant can muster, as he slowly turns around, reaching into his pocket for a moment, to pull out his tablet, turning it on to be greeted with a new menu option.

‘Death File’.

With a moment of hesitation, he tapped it, a sheet of information coming up.

“Victim: Peroen Halloday

Height: 6’’1’

Weight: 215 lbs

Time of death: 1:34 AM

Cause of death: Asphyxiation

Peroen was found, hanging from the ceiling in a noose, with small lacerations on his throat, each roughly ⅔ of an inch long. There were no signs of any outside chemicals in his bloodstream, nor any other injuries.”

“What am I going to do with any of this….” He mutters to himself as he steps out into the hall, where a few of the other remaining survivors stood. 

In total, he was able to see Maya, Aneitha, Derrick, Ethan, and Dearen, all of whom immediately rushed over to Brynt as he exited the room. 

The flurry of words from each of them left Brynt’s head spinning, unable to untangle it, until Dearen managed to hush the group, guiding Brynt till he was leaning against the wall. 

“What happened in there?” 

Brynt raised his head to meet the gaze of Aneitha, as he tried to formulate an answer to her question.

“... what it said happened in the file…”

As he spoke, Diana stepped out into view from her room, walking directly over to Peroen’s room, sparing a single glance to the group, before pointing at Brynt. “Hey, help me out.” And with that, she vanished into the room. 

Brynt hesitates, but Dearen puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll deal with everyone out here, you help Diana, make sure that nothing weird happens during the trail the rules mention.”

Brynt nods, ducking back into the room with a deep breath, met by the vision of DIana patting down the body, Gina and Alenda both staring at her with a deep sense of contemplation. 

“Ah, good, you showed after all. I’ve arraigned a few interesting pieces of info atop the dresser. Once you’re done there, join me back over here so I can help you with a bit more.”

As promised, atop the dresser were three pieces of paper. Two of which had been carefully folded, but the third was clearly crumpled. From left to right, there was a small map of the area, with short descriptions written alongside it all in near chicken scratches.

Following that was a short note reading “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let you all lose what you love.” in a similar style, the words nearing on unreadable.

The most curious of the series was the third, crumpled paper, reading the same as the second in a much more elegant script. 

“What does this mean Diana?” Brynt asks, as he turns around, still holding the two nearly identical notes. 

“What it means is that, for some reason, either Peroen or someone else chose to use the less elegant note. Now come over here and check this out.” She pats Peroen’s harness, which she had moved over and placed on the bed, the ropes fanning out around it in a halo of colours. 

“What’s so important about this?”   
  


“He’s hanging from a climbing rope, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So why isn’t his harness missing a rope?”

It took a few seconds for Brynt to realize that, in fact, there wasn’t a single rope missing, there was even a matching green rope still attached to it.

“There were more harnesses with ropes in the closet room, right?” Diana quizzes, as she starts to sort through the clothes on the floor.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there were. Are you implying that someone took a rope from one and did this?”

“We have to look at all possibilities. As much as I dislike it, there’s a chance.”

The mere idea sent a shiver down his spine, as he finally took in the background given to this room, resembling mountains on a cloudless day, snow capped peaks and all. 

“Now, that leads up to the most important part of this, take a close look at his neck.”

Brynt leaned in close, looking at the rope and skin, noticing the small nicks, likely caused by usage for the rope, but had some other cause on his skin.

“The rope looks worn down there, and at the anchor, and at one point in the middle, but the rest still looks brand new. That would mean that only those areas were strained.” Brynt comments, gently brushing the coarse plastic. “In the knot, around his neck, and at the anchor makes sense, but what wore it down in the middle there?”

“That could be the key to this mystery. Maybe you should’ve tried some ARGs before this all. You might’ve been good.”

“I... don’t know what that means.”

“I’ll explain some other time we aren’t trying to solve a murder.”

Brynt simply nodded silently, and began to help her clean up the clothes that had be strewn across the floor. 

After the room had been cleaned, no more evidence had been revealed and a glance at the tablet revealed a bit over half an hour left. 

Then the static started up.

“I just realized, the investigation is going to be harder without having access to the whole place, so as a little gift from me to you, the whole partners thing is done and dusted! Go wherever, talk with whoever, find your clues, time’s running out.”

“Best news I’ve gotten today. Come on, we’re checking out everyone else.” Diana spoke, turning to Alenda. “What happened exactly this morning?”

“Oh, uh, well I woke up and came out into the hall, figuring there’’d be someone to talk with. Managed to bump into Maria, and we had a chat about yesterday, and all of what’s happened. AS it turns out, her and Ethan visited that closet place, supposedly picking up a tracksuit for Ethan, he wanted to work out or something, but she could’ve sworn he grabbed two or three with how he had balled it up! Can you imagine? Oh, sorry, that’s off topic, wasn’t it?

“Where was I? Oh yeah, after talking with Maria, Daniel arrived, said he was gonna try to rouse Dearen to make some breakfast, and I offered to keep him company if I could wake up Peroen. So I go, knock on Peroen’s door a couple times, don’t get a response. Figures he’d be a heavy sleeper, he had like eight siblings! Couldn’t fathom sleeping through that. Sorry, another tangent, I get like this when I’m nervous… Anyhoo, after a bit longer, Daniel and Dearen left, and I knocked louder. When I got no reply then, I woke up Brynt, and he can tell you everything from there.” 

Diana had been writing shorthand notes on the palm of her hand this entire time, while Brynt had been trying his best to write down what he caught as important on his tablet, in the notes tab.

“Alright, thank you. We’ll check that all out.”

Diana grabbing Brynt’s wrist and pulled him away, out into the hall. Once there, she pulled him over to Ethan, one of the few people still there. “Ah, Ethan, just who I wanted to talk to.”

“You sound like you’re playing cop here Diana, hope you’ve got good reason.”

“Just trying to piece everything together. I was curious about yesterday, I heard that you went with Maria to grab a tracksuit from the closet, would you mind if we saw it?”

“Don’t see why this matters, but sure.”

He walks across the hall, opening his door,and gesturing them inside. The inside was decorated like a red carpet, the walls showing a city skyline at dusk, broken up by velvet ropes and camera flashes.

He pulls open the bottom drawer, showing a single blue tracksuit. “It’s right there, haven’t had a chance to make any use of it yet, but it’s sure here.”

“Alright, that’ll be all, thank you Ethan.” Diana pulls Brynt along, who shares a single confused glance with Ethan before being pulled all the way to the main area, where they were alone. 

“I trust you understand what I’m telling you as this goes on now, right? You can pick up that much?”

“No, I have no idea what this all means.”

“Shame I can’t explain it now, but I think you’ll understand the clues soon enough.”

Without another word, she vanished into the closet, leaving Brynt to hurry after her.    
  


“What do you mean by that?” He asks as she counts the numbers of shirts that matched Peroen’s own that were there. 

“Fifteen. During the trial, you should be able to figure it out with everyone but one person working towards the truth.”

“Are you sure it was murder now?”

“It keeps seeming more, and more likely.”

Brynt shivers as Diana points at the harnesses. “There’s only fourteen.”

“What?”

‘Fourteen harnesses, someone took one.”

“Who?”

“We’ll know eventually.”

Brynt is unable to stop himself from sighing, as he lowers himself to the ground. “This is a bit much for just one day…”

“Look, we don’t have time to whine. We need to track down the missing harness before someone is able to get rid of it. If we know who took it, that could be the key to this entire mystery.”

Bryant glanced at his tablet again, twenty minutes remained. Between him and Diana, it would take far too long to find what they needed if they didn’t get lucky.

“We don’t have enough time to ensure we find it.” He spoke, closing his eyes and sighing. “Whoever did it also probably hid it somewhere, it’s not gonna be out in the open.” 

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. I can search rooms if you search out here.”

“Fine, I’ll search out here as much as I can. You better get going though. You’ve got a lot to check.”

“Understood. Good luck Brynt.”

“Same to you.” 

As they parted ways, Brynt felt his heart creeping into his throat as he ran over to the washrooms, figuring such a communal area would be the first spot that someone would hide something like the harness. As he dashed into the men’s room, he quickly checked each stall, followed by the showers, memories of his plan for the morning flashing through his head before being dropped by the way side, as he stepped out into the hall.   
  
A glance at the women’s room sent him across the way, that was by far outside of his jurisdiction, to the kitchen, pushing the door open, before starting to rummage through the drawers, shuffling through various things he didn’t have the words to describe. After far too long, nothing had turned up, a glance at the tablet telling him a mere five minutes remained as he ran out of the messy kitchen to the gym, where there was a single running treadmill with nobody in sight. With one last ounce of energy, Brynt ran to it, turning it off before looking all around it. 

There was nothing there. 

Until a final idea came to mind, as he lay down, sticking an arm under the machine, feeling the fabric of a tracksuit under it, pulling it free revealed a second blue tracksuit, unfurling it only to reveal the missing harness. But how did it get here? And when? 

Though in the last seconds as the static crackled to life, an empty carabiner became visible, as a lump stuck in Brynt throat. 

It was murder.

“Please, everyone meet in front of the locked door so the trail will begin! Failure to be there in five minutes will result in death.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's all the clues. What your guesses for the blackened? Let me know wherever you can reach me, I really do want to hear what you guys think in going to happen! 
> 
> See the next chapter to see the clues laid out in truth bullet style!
> 
> Also, this is the longest update thus far clocking in at a whopping over five and a half pages at 11 pf font, so I hope y'all enjoyed it!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	10. Chapter One Clues

Death File

  * Lists details about the body, including time of death (1:30 AM), cause of death (Asphyxiation), and info about Peroen including height and weight, as well as the injuries sustained (lacerations to the neck).



Peroen’s Notes

  * A full sheet of paper covered in small notes about the area, presumably taken while he and Alenda were exploring.



Potential Suicide Note

  * A short note on a torn up piece of paper found in Peroen’s pocket reading “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let you all lose what you love.”.



Crumpled Note

  * A crumpled pieces of paper found under the dresser that reads the same as the potential suicide note.



Peroen’s Harness

  * The harness on the body, it’s as tight as need be, and every carabiner still has a rope attached to it.



Scratch Marks

  * Signs of wear on an otherwise brand new rope, as well as tiny lacerations on Peroen’s throat around the rope.



Green Rope

  * The rope that Peroen was hanging from. It’s worn down in places that make sense, but then also halfway down where it shouldn’t be.



Diana’s Account

  * Diana was the one who noticed the fact that both Peroen’s harness wasn’t missing a single rope, and that there was a harness missing from the spare clothes.



Single Tracksuit

  * A single blue tracksuit found in Ethan’s room.



Alenda’s Account

  * Maria to Alenda mentioned off hand that when her and Ethan left the kitchen, they went to the room with spare clothes, where Ethan grabbed a tracksuit, but it seemed like he had grabbed multiple based on the size of what he was holding.



Missing Harness

  * A single harness found in the gym, however, compared to every other harness in the place, it’s missing a single rope.



Second Tracksuit

  * Found wrapped around the missing harness, also blue.



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	11. Chapter One, Trial: The Start Of The Terror

Before long, fifteen scared people had found their way to the locked door, staring at everyone around them. 

Body language ranged from Kasey, her nose buried in her book once again, to Diana, studying the group silently from the edge, to Ethan, seemingly uncaring, leaning against the wall, to Aneitha, who seemed on the brink of tears.

Brynt turned his head back to the door, something coming into view that he hadn’t expected. 

The lock was gone.

He grabbed the chain, pulling it off the door, and, steeling himself, pulling them open with silent fear. 

A simple hallway, the same design as the main room, stone floor and roof with tiled walls, that lead to another door, a silent agreement soon reached.

The group made their way to the door, entering into a large elevator that began moving as soon as the last of them entered. 

The mechanical groan left each of them on edge, Diana walking over to Brynt. “Did you find it?”

“It was in the gym, under a treadmill, wrapped in another jumpsuit, matching the one we found in Ethan’s room.”

As much as he hated to say it, that fact had narrowed his suspects, assuming it was actually a murder, to two people. 

A thick ball of anxiety fell into his stomach as he searched the pair out of the crowd.

The rest of them likely had no idea about the possibility of a murder, probably just hoping the ensuing trial could end quickly and they could move on from where they were. 

“That’s good to know. Add that to this.” She hands him a piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal a list of the evidence they had collected, with short descriptions of each. 

Finally, the elevator ground to a halt, opening to reveal a circle of podiums, each marked with a small insignia, matching them up with one of the contestants, proven by the one marked with a mountain, which had a picture of Peroen, in grayscale, the eerie image of a blood red noose pasted over his face. 

Soon everyone found their way to their podiums, and monitors descended from the ceiling, the static of the Gamemaster starting up.

“Welcome to your first trial. This will be rather simple, place your tablet on the podium before you and we can begin.”

Everyone did so, Brynt placing his notes next to it, quickly jotting down the new info with a provided pen.

“Good, now you should see a few more options, namely request speech, and request camera! Tapping each will do as it says. It will allow you to have a turn to talk, or to have a room shown on the screens!”

As the voice mentioned this, the snow on the screens faded to a shot of Peroen’s body shown with impeccably high quality. most of the remaining contestants looking away. 

“Now, you have thirty minutes. Who did it.” 

The static vanished as a spotlight shone down on Diana. 

“We first have to confirm if this was a murder or a suicide. I believe it was murder.”

Fingers frantically flew at screens as she said that, the light shifting to Alenda. 

“How could that be a murder? As much as it hurts that he’s dead, he still did it to himself for us. Don’t try to blame someone else for it unless you did it!” 

The light then shot to Ethan.

“It just doesn’t make sense to think it was anything but a suicide. So unless you have proof, please don’t talk like that.”

Brynt pressed his button, the light shifting to him.

“As much as I dislike it, I’m afraid I have to agree with Diana. The evidence we have are three notes we found in the room. Do you have them Diana?” She nods, pulling them out. “Please pass them around. There’s one that’s notes about the layout of the building, and two that read the same in different hand writings. The one that was folded was found in Peroen’s pocket, the other was found under his dresser. Why would he write the same thing twice and throw away the one that was easier to read and looked nicer?”

The light moved to Maria.

“Maybe he just didn’t want it to be thought that it was a murder because the prose on the note was nicer.” 

The light jumped to Diana, who tilted her head and nodded. 

“I suppose that could be true, but there’s another clue that could prove that it wasn’t suicide. Brynt, would you like to share again?” 

Brynt sighed and pressed the button, the light coming back to him. 

“He struggled against it for far longer than anyone who did it intentionally would’ve. This can be seen in how worn down the rope is, and the small cuts on his neck, likely made by his fingernails.”

The light jumped over to Alenda.

“How would you know how much a person would struggle while like that?”

Brynt’s eyes shut for a few heartbeats before the lights returned to him. 

“I’ve seen enough people who have done it to know.”

He falls silent once more, the light passing back to Diana. 

“There we go. So it wasn’t suicide. That means one of us killed Peroen. The question then, is who?”

The light suddenly jumps to Ethan.

“How do we know that you or Brynt didn’t do it? After all, you two were the only ones who even really investigated!”

The light went back to Diana. 

“Why would I be the one who investigates if I was the killer, and does it seem like Brynt could kill someone? I chose to investigate with him because he’s the only person here I don’t think could’ve done this and keep it together enough to work.”

Silence hovered over the room as everyone looked around, Diana’s words sticking in their heads before the light flickered over to Gina.

“I have to agree that I don’t think Brynt has the balls to kill anyone. Just not his style.”

The light jumps back to Brynt. 

“Yeah, I don’t think it was Diana either, the way she was acting during the investigation makes me feel that she’s innocent.”

Everyone nods in silent agreement before Ethan gets the light again. 

“Okay, so it wasn’t either of them, who is it then?”

The silence returns as everyone looks around, trying to figure it out before the light returns to Brynt.

“I have to ask one thing, and that will tell me who it was. Ethan, did Maria grab anything while you guys were in the closet room?”

All the eyes turn to Ethan as he accepts the light. 

“Uh… I don’t fully remember, but I’m pretty sure she did.” 

Maria slammed her hand down on her screen, looking suddenly agitated. 

“I didn’t grab anything! It was you who balled up a tracksuit, I just poked around at Kasey’s outfit!”

Kasey briefly grabbed the light.

“Okay, I didn’t give you permission to do that.”

Ethan gets the light back.

“Nobody cares about that Kasey, what we need to prove now is that MARIA killed Peroen!” 

The light jumps back to Maria, who starts to fish into her pockets, pulling out a bouncy ball, flinging it at Ethan.

“It wasn’t me! You’re the one who killed him! You’re just trying to get out of here!”

“I’m trying to survive!”

“We all are you asshole!” 

Suddenly, the back and forth ceased when Diana had the light back.

“If you two keep acting like that, we might as well let Brynt do all the talking, after all, he’s used to working with screaming children. We need to lay out the evidence and find out what the exact answer is.”

Ethan receives the light again. 

“Fine. If that’s what it takes to prove my innocence, then so be it. I’ll play along with your trial.”

The light blinks back over to Maria.

“If it’ll make you all believe me, then I’ll do anything because I. Didn’t. Kill. Peroen.”

Diana gestures to Brynt, who takes the light.

“Well, I thought my question would iron this all out. But I guess that I can ask another. Ethan, if Maria took something, how would she have taken it without anyone noticing?”

“She probably just shoved it in the pockets of her coat, those things seem bottomless. She kept pulling out inane props in an attempt to make me laugh. It didn’t work.”

“Alright, thank you, just one more thing, how many tracksuits did you take?”

“Just the one. I would only have one workout before I could go there on my own anyways.”

Brynt made a note on his paper, taking the light back and turning the face Maria.

“Maria, what did Ethan take from the closet?”

She pauses to think as the light moves to her, staring at Ethan with icy eyes.

“He took at least one tracksuit, but balled up all weird. It was blue though, I know that much.”

“Ethan, did you move the tracksuit that was in your room?”

“I, uh, I put it on the bed! But it wasn’t there right before the trial started! So Maria must’ve taken it!”

“Why would it being missing matter?”

A sudden silence fell at Brynt’s words as Ethan stared at him, mouth flapping open and shut a few times as the light flickered over to him. 

“B-because why wouldn’t it being missing matter? She obviously took it to hide the harness that was missing from the closet!” 

“What missing harness?”

“The one the rope used on Peroen is from!” 

“We never talked about that harness.”

The silence that followed was deafening, only broken by static.

“It seems the case has been cracked, but there’s five minutes left! Please use this to make sure everyone understands what happened.”

The silence returned, as Ethan stood there, the spotlight on him as he suddenly punched his podium.

“FUCK!” The sudden curse caused the more meek of the group to flinch away. “Fuck…” Ethan’s head lowered to rest against the podium. “I failed… I failed you…” He murmured, before raising his head, a sad smile on his face, and tears in his eyes for a heartbeat, before he blinked them away and restored his normal expression. 

“I suppose you guys want to know why I did it. I made a promise once,” His tone remained sad despite his face regaining it’s normal steely composure, “to a close friend of mine. We actually started working as models together, but he never quite had the same heart for it that I did. I think he did it just to spend more time with me though. And to cheer me on during shoots. He was a good person.

“So, of course, fate screwed him over with the hand he was dealt… My family has never really been anything close to poor, and he needed money for treatment, cancer, to be more detailed. But he’d never take it. He’d just look at me and say…” He paused for a breath, wiping his eyes, “He’d say ‘Ethan, you promise me you get there. You stand on whatever pedestal you deserve. And you do it for me. You show the world who you really are, for me.’   
  


“And I’d reply ‘I’m not gonna stand on them without you. Just let me help, you know I can. Just let me.’ And he’d just… smile, smile and shake his head. I knew his heart wasn’t in it. But I wish that he just let me help him stay around, just that little longer.” A deep breath. “And then one morning I woke up to a message from him. I panicked, I grabbed my phone so I could listen… I could hardly make his words out, he sounded bad. But he kept saying one thing. ‘You promise me. You promise me!’... so I did.

“And when whoever was running this thing said that what I loved would be going, I knew I couldn’t risk that happening! My career was the only thing I had left! The one last piece of him I could hold close! So… I did it. I killed Peroen. I knocked on his door at some ungodly hour and said I needed to talk. As soon as he turned his back, that was it. I faked the crime scene but lost the note I had prepared beforehand, the handwriting was just not right for him. And that’s up to now. Vote for me. I was the killer.”

The static returned as everyone silently stared at Ethan, the shock silence horrifyingly present.

“Time is up! Cast your votes on your tablets now!”

Another silence fell as fifteen votes came in. Before long everyone was looking up again. 

“All the votes are in! And the selected killer is… Ethan Mark! Now hold on tight while we go to his punishment!”

And darkness fell over everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, the first blackened of the story. I hope you enjoyed thus far, and if you did, a comment or kudos is great! If you have anything you want to ask the me or the characters to get to know them or I a bit better, reach out on the Tumblr! Oh! Enjoy the next chapter....
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	12. Chapter One, Execution

Brynt awoke tied down in a chair facing a runway stage, the implications of what’s next already painfully clear to him what was about to happen, silent fear building in his chest. He tried to struggle free as a screen descended over the stage, a few words appearing. 

‘Walk Of Fame, the Ultimate Male Model’s Punishment.’

The screen then lifted away as the static returned.    
  
“Ethan Mark, you have been found guilty of murder. Now, to earn your freedom, simply do what you do best! Survive the outfits I’ve created for you, and entertain your audience, and you’ll be allowed to live!” 

D-did the Gamemaster mean that? Could Ethan survive? 

Brynt watched the stage with bated breath, unable to see anyone around him, not even another chair until black walls a few feet away. 

Eventually, he saw Ethan walk out, walking to the end of the runway as a pillar rose up, revealing a pair of shoes, with the static returning. 

“This is the first of four you must wear, a simple pair of shoes, which will not hurt you until you take your first steps. Every step, a single rusted nail will stab into your heel. After each piece of clothing, simply walk backstage and then back out. Good luck.”

Ethan took a deep breath, changing his shoes to the new pair, standing up and taking a step, a quiet noise of anguish leaving him as he started to walk, his posture nearly perfect until his left knee gave out right before he reached backstage.

After the painful sight of the model returning to the front, the pillar returned. 

A pair of silver bracelets sat there.    
  


“These bracelets are to not be taken off, and will be stabbed into your wrists, allowing your blood to slowly drain.”

Ethan picked one up, allowing two sharp blades to be seen on each side as he clicked it closed, stifling a noise of pure pain as blood already started to bleed into the fabric of his suit. He forced the other closed, stumbling backstage once more, falling to his knees again as he reached the backstage.

Another painful walk to the front revealed the next punishment. 

What appeared to be a normal shirt that he picked up, quickly shrugging off his jacket, starting to unbutton his current shirt as the voice returned. 

“Now, I know you don’t go outside much, but I’m sure that Brynt could tell you what a burr is, if you could hear him as well as he can hear you, but I want you to imagine velcro. Now replace those little plastic hooks with fish hooks! That’s what you’re to wear now.”

Terror really started to appear on Ethan face as two red hands lifted the shirt, as he tried to put it on, feeling the sharp metal sinking into his flesh, eventually getting it buttoned up, but dots of blood quickly spread all over it as he tried to turn back, each move only causing more of the small metal barbs to dig into him, blood beginning to trail behind him.

As he was halfway to backstage, he collapsed to the ground, crying out in a noise of pure pain and fear, tears starting to roll down his face as he tried to struggle his way to his feet again, starting to mutter under his breath. 

“I’m not dying yet… I’m not dying till you get your wish! I won’t die!” 

The resolve in his voice brought a tear to Brynt’s eyes, as he watched the injured model stumble backstage, leaving a large red blotch behind him.

As he walked back out, his face was bleached white, as he tried to hold the shirt away from his skin, the fabric already turned a deep red from his wounds, as he finally reached his final test. 

A choker. 

A simple black belt, that he lifted to his neck.

It was too tight. It would never fit. He’d never survive it. 

But Brynt could feel the fire of his heart from here as he pulled it around his neck, gagging as it started to cut off his airflow, his feet thundering against the floor as he ran towards backstage. 

As he came back Brynt couldn’t help himself from crying out. 

“Survive!” 

He called into empty air that couldn’t hear him. 

“You survive damnit!” 

He could see the desperation in Ethan’s face as he started to run towards a button that sat on the end of the runway.

“You’ll survive!”

…

A loud thud silenced Brynt.

He had forgotten about the blood.

And so had Ethan, who now lay face down in a spreading pool of it after slipping on the blotch left from his last fall.

It had been too long, he’d pass out any second.

“NO!” Brynt heard himself cry, thrashing against his restraints. 

The cold metal that held him there would never give. 

Ethan’s hand limply rose, leaving the slightest hope left in Brynt chest warm once more.

Then everything went cold.

The hand fell, the button sat, pristine, across a sea of blood and discarded clothing. 

And thus, Ethan Mark’s final breath was denied from him, lying there, his hair turning red from his own blood.

And the dark returned.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And 14 remain.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	13. Chapter Two: The Terrors Of The Past

Slowly the person lying in the bed woke up, rubbing the side of her head. 

“Well, that was sure a confusing series of events.” She mutters, patting her pockets to find her notepad, the pencil in her hat soon finding its way to her hand. 

“Ethan Mark was the killer, punished with a challenge for survival if he passed it. Might be useful to know in the future, I will have to see if that’s a trend.” Likian mutters as she writes, sitting up and swiveling to the side so she’s sitting on the edge of her bed.

“The room appears to be the same, but my camera is missing, and I will have to investigate into the position of it further.” 

She stands up, staring at the walls, as she tries to remember what the text used to say as now a few had been filled in while the rest remained gibberish, just random strings of letters. 

Closer inspection of the wall revealed that those papers that had been filled in were covered with the details of the first case.

“Fascinating!” The notebook quickly returns as she writes down the new information. “The walls of my room have been changed, a certain amount of the papers now reading off the information of the first murder! This will be useful for reviewing facts of that case. I will be sure to take pictures for after I escape this place!”

She reaches for where her camera normally sits, before pausing and laughing. She turns around, looking to the dresser, quickly pulling open the bottom drawer. “There you are!” She grabs the camera, holding it up before putting the strap back on around her neck, turning it on as she grabs and pockets the charger.

She glances at her notepad before taking a picture of the newspaper, before she walks over to the door, pushing it open with a smile. 

As the door opens, she raises the notepad back up. The walls were… different, right? A quick glance through her notes confirmed that it was. She made a note of the change, from a dark blue to a lighter shade of purple. 

It was at this point that she noticed that the hallway was, in fact, not empty, a seemingly bored student sitting at the top of the stairs. 

Likian strode over quickly, tapping Kasey on the shoulder, with a smile and an extended hand. “You want to explore with me?”

Kasey had barely glanced up before sighing, nodding, closing her book, tucking it in her backpack, and standing up. “Lead the way…”

“Excellent! Have you looked around yet?” Likian starts to furiously scribble in her notebook, recording the conversation.

“No. We should get going though, no point in waiting.” The monotone voice of the student was odd, Likian had expected at least the slightest amount of emotion to be appearing in everyone’s voices, her experiences had made that seem true, but maybe things had just changed recently. 

How is she supposed to know? 

“There isn’t! Let’s make haste!” Likian grabs Kasey’s arm, dragging her off to the door, Kasey sighing as she tries her best to keep up. 

The pair burst out into the open, Likian flicking through her notes of the first area, to help make sure that she was remembering the layout of the first floor correctly, because there was 100% something weird with the fact that the layout here was a circle, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t last time. 

Yup, sure wasn’t. Last time, it was a rectangle, so a kind of donut was weird. But it looked slightly similar, with the floor and roof being stone, but the walls were different, the same purple as the dorms.

A walk around the room revealed it’s exact layout, a circle, with a door every quarter, with a large pillar like thing in the middle, a chained up door across from the dorms. 

“Alright, so, clockwise, counterclockwise, how’re we going to do this?” 

“Hm? Uh…. Let’s go that way…” Kasey points in a non-specific direction, but it was good enough to Likian, as she starts off to the left of the dorms, finding her way to the first door, pushing it open to find a large room filled with medical equipment, ranging from hospital beds to those heart rate monitors, to cabinets upon cabinets of different medicines, and a few peoples sorting through them.

Brynt stood with a bag, open, dropping in a handful of bandages, as Diana and Gina were searching through the cabinets.

“Hydrogen peroxide.” He says as the door opens, looking up and waving to the pair who just entered. “Hey Likian and Kasey!” 

Likian took this chance to grab her pen and walk forward, writing down a handful of things quickly. “Hey Brynt, what’re you up to over here?”

“Making a medkit, just in case, for small little injuries. Figure we don’t need to drag people here in case it happens.” He replies as he takes a bottle from Gina, tucking it in the bad. “Can you guys check if there’s moleskin?” 

“I got it.” Diana says, Kasey silently shifting off to talk with her, Gina leaning against the bed Brynt was packing on. 

“So, what took you so long to get out here?” She asks, trying to peek at what Likian was writing.

“Well, I had to take note about my room, and the layout outside of here, and all of that fancy stuff.” The reporter replies, as she adjusts her sleeve, rolling it up a little bit further. “Need to make sure it all gets recorded somewhere so I can remember it all.”

Gina eventually gave up at trying to read the notepad with the sudden realization that, in fact, reading upside down was not that easy. “You got something wrong with your memory?” 

“It used to be photographic, but I got in a bit of a scuffle, a few months back, you know when, and I’ve had trouble remembering anything at all since then, so I take photos and write things down to help. It’s like that movie, Memento, where the guy has no short term memory?” 

“Don’t think I’ve seen it. Seems a bit high brow for a miner.”

“Hey, I’ve heard of kids who’ve watched weirder.” Brynt chimes in, tucking a pad of brown material into the kit. “I think that’s all I need for this style of kit. I’ll keep it with me, so if anything goes down, let me know and I’ll be there quick, but you two should get back to checking out the rest of the place, there’s plenty left to explore, after all.”

Likian nods, looking over, Kasey having suddenly appeared next to her. “You’re more than light on your feet, aren’t you?”

“... Makes it easy to not draw attention when I need to get somewhere for anything.”

“Right, a tap on the shoulder wouldn’t go amiss next time though.” 

With that, the pair moved on from their first stop, making their way to the next door, stepping inside, Micheal leaning against the wall across from a pair of bathroom doors, with a third, unmarked door, a bit removed from the other two. 

“Oh thank goodness you two are here. Maria and Anietha have been in there for far too long, can you head in there and get them out? We still have to check out another place and I’d rather not die of old age before we can do that.”

Likian shrugs, pushing her way into the women’s bathroom to see a… sight…

Aneitha, stood on a toilet behind a locked stall door, Maria laughing her head off while holding three plastic snakes, and ten seconds of silence after she walked in. 

Eventually, the snakes returned to Maria’s pockets and Anietha slowly emerged, keeping a wary eye on Maria as she did so. 

“I’m not going to ask any questions, and, I promise you, forget all of what just happened. Micheal is waiting on you.” 

Likian slowly backs out of the room, grabbing Kasey, and dragging her to the other door, pushing it open, to reveal a kitchen that looked the same as the one on the floor before this one. 

Of course, Daniel was already working away, seemingly running around to cook something with the aid of Dearen, who was working at chopping up some sort of leafy green. 

Across the room, at the table, sat a small group, talk amongst themselves, namely Jake, sitting nervously, and silently, stealing occasional glances at Maya, as she talks, her hands waving through the air as she walks through her story, and the semi-interested Alenda, who stares at the wall.

Likian and Kasey both decide with a glance that it’s probably best to leave them all alone, between knives and flames, and the obvious ‘conversation’ that they would get dragged into at the table, after all, there was still one more place to check out.

They walk out, noting that Micheal had left in the very short period that they had been in the kitchen, before they moved to the final door, stepping in to find sixteen smaller room, each door with a single name on them. 

“Should we find ours?” 

Kasey’s voice shocks Likian out of her focus, and back to her notepad, scribbling down the layout of the room, as she starts to scan the room. 

“Well, we won’t find out anything more about this place until we do, so let’s work this out!”

It doesn’t take long for them both to figure out where their rooms are, stepping into the doors with the slightest bit of trepidation.

“... Oh…” 

Likian gently picked up the photo, her thumb gently running along the jawline of the… woman in the photo. 

She knew she should know who it is. Mostly because the person next to her is Likian herself. A tear wells up in her eye as she puts the photo down, picking up another, this time some man.

Again, she should know him, right? She’s in the photo, so she should know him.

The third photo brings back proper memories. 

She’s not in it, but it shows Kasey, head down in some book, Diana pointing out different passages, Dearen just barely visible, also reading some other book. 

She can feel the wind that was there that day, back when they had all first met, the photo seeming to open up the memories that she had forgotten since the end of the normalcy. 

A gentle smile crosses her face as she thinks back to that day, including her interviews with everyone.

The sudden return of her memories of the two that had already gone caused her to falter, collapsing to her knees, crying for a moment before returning the photos to the table they sat on, wiping her tears, and writing down her memories before walking back out into the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's my stories gimmick! Every chapter will be told with the perspective of a different character! And, same as last time, if you want to hear more from any character in particular, let me know in the comments or via the tumblr! Think of it as a way of some free time events, as best as I can in this format! Hope you are enjoying the story thus far!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	14. Chapter Two: The Terrors Of The Past, Part Two

She stepped out, and paused. “You got out quickly Kasey, something wrong?” 

Kasey shrugged, looking to the right with a bored expression. “My room was empty. Nothing to do in there.” She stood up from where she was sitting, her textbook snapping closed once more, and returning to her backpack. “I’m going to go lie down for a while. This is more walking than I’m used to. Bye.”   
  
Before Likian can think of another word to say, Kasey vanished through the doors. 

Likian was usually pretty good about bouncing back due to her training with interviews, but that had left her stunned. There was nothing in Kasey’s room? Her instincts kicked in and she moved to the door, trying to force it open, but it wouldn’t budge.

She tried a few more doors, but it seemed that the only door she could open was her own, leaving her with almost less information than she started with, but she knew something that it was unlikely most of the others knew. 

Still, if she is to be successful in this twisted game, it would be best to get to know her contestants, so that should be her current mission! A handful of interviews, finally, just some more normalcy within the world. 

She walked out into the main room, looking around for a moment before spotting one of the other members of this weird cast caught her eye, slouched over by the wall, hand held in his hands, silent as he sat there, motionless. 

She slowly slid down the wall next to him, the reality of what had only just happened hitting her as she ran out of things to do right away. 

Peroen and Ethan are both… gone. 

She should probably write obituaries, that usually helped people back when she was working before everything. 

She looked over to Derrick, as he slowly raised his head to meet her eyes, having wiped away a few tears as he did so. 

“Hey, how’re you holding up?”

“About as well as you could expect someone who’s crying against the wall in a weird underground bunker after a murder to be holding up, I’d suppose.” He replies with an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck before his head bumps against the wall as he looks up to the roof. “I, uh, hope you’re okay if we can talk about not what happened, it’s not exactly a topic I’m good with.”

“Yeah, that’s no problem. What do you want to talk about? I’ve, uh, never been good at small talk. All that interviewing gets you caught on one style of talking. The whole question and answer thing. Was never really in one place long enough to get used to talking to people normally.” Likian pulled out her notebook, ready to start scribbling down the important info from this talk. “I hope you don’t mind if I do write down our talk a bit, it’s just a memory aid.”

“Oh yeah, write whatever. It’s not like we don’t have someone listening to us already with that Gamemaster, whoever they are.” He paused to take a deep breath, fiddling with his hoodie’s zipper. “I, uh, never stayed anywhere much either. Got used to having a friend for a year and then moving on. My, um, my mom wasn’t in the picture, never really knew her, and my dad had to keep moving for work, so I was left having to move with him.” 

“I see… I was just always out on a trip for my reporting stuff. I was excited to come to the school, even if I was just getting to stay somewhere for a while. I had one last report to write before it, so I managed to avoid most of what happened, being away from here, nobody knew me, thankfully.” She took her own deep breath, looking over to Derrick. “Someone found me though, and I took a bit of a bump, and now… well, the memory aid comes in handy.”

“Well. Shit. That’s a bit heavier than I wanted to talk about. Why don’t we just… talk about what we had seen on our trips? That seems a bit nicer, right?” He gave another awkward laugh, glancing around the room silently. “I just spent all my time in whatever city my dad had to go to, but I did get to see a lot of the country. And got good enough to find everything each time to the point that it got me… here. Man, my talent’s pretty shit, isn’t it?” 

“Hey! It might be better than...” She quickly flicked through her notebook, searching for something to use as proof. “Well, it might be better than Dearen’s, if I must be honest.” She offers a smile and a wink, gently batting her notepad against Derrick’s shoulder. “But it’s probably more useful day to day than any of ours. And, it sounds super fancy! You need tons of reporters in every big city, and when do you hear of a diviner? It’s fun.”

“Yeah, I guess so… Still, doesn’t quite reach the same heights as what someone like Maria, Jake, or Maya have going on.”

“Barely anyone reaches even close to those heights, don’t put yourself down for not being a famous actor.”

While they chatted, Daniel rounded the corner, walking over. “Hope I’m not interrupting you two from anything, just wanted to let everyone know that there’s something to eat in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” 

“I might have to take you up on that, I’m getting pretty hungry.” Likian stands up, offering a hand to Derrick, who shakes his head. 

“I’m gonna just rest for a moment longer, you go ahead. Thanks for the talk.”

“Alright, I’ll see the pair of you later than.” She says, waving goodbye to the two guys as she walks to the kitchen, walking in and scanning the room, finding only Alenda there so far, shrugging, grabbing one of the plates from the counter, settling in next to her.

“Hey there, how’re you holding up tonight darling?” The southern blacksmith asked in a break between bites, giving a warm smile.

“I’m doing good. Hungry, but I think everyone has to be. Thank goodness we have Daniel here, I would’ve starved if I was left by myself.” Likian offers with a quiet laugh, starting to eat her meal. “Don’t really have a good memory. You mind if I write some of this down? It’s just the whole memory thing. Helps keep it in my mind.”

“Course, it’s no skin off my teeth if you’re doing that! Not like I’ve got the codes to nuclear silos or nothin’.” Alenda laughs again, continuing to dig into her food. “So, how’d you get your start as a reporter? Can’t say I’ve met many of y’all, so I don’t quite know how you get into it.”   
  
“It’s funny you ask, I only became one by accident. I was trying to sign up for a photography club in elementary, but ended up on the school newspaper. It was kinda useless, but it was pretty fun. Kept signing up all through school, eventually, some bigwig read my work and wanted to sign me for some unknown reason, and here I am. What’s your story? I’m sure I’ve met less blacksmiths than you have reporters.”

“Born into it.” Alenda replies with a shrug. “My family’s owned this little store for far too long, been passed down father to son, but my dad only got me. He wasn’t too happy about it, he was… old fashioned like that. But I proved my little bit of worth in there, eventually got my dad to train me, despite not really liking many ‘choices’ I’ve made, but I guess I don’t gotta worry about most of that.” She shrugs once more, poking at her food with her fork silently. “It’s nothing special on my side either.”

“My dad didn’t really care the route I took. He, uh, wasn’t exactly around. Nor my mom. I’ve lived with my aunt and uncle since I was 5…” A pause allowed Alenda to think for long enough to realize the implication. 

“Oh…”

“Yeah. They didn’t think I should be a reporter, so they were bickering the entire time, chewing me out, all of that. But I was old enough to make the right choice, so I went to work. Got to travel the world, write many a story, all that good stuff. It’s hard to please those who are in charge.” She shrugged, and kept eating, watching for Alenda’s reaction. 

“Yeah, but once I started training, my dad was happy with me as a blacksmith. I was a good enough heir, I suppose, for not quite being his son. Though, he’d have been pissed with what I’ve done with the place. Not a fan of my idea of decor.”

“Oh my aunt would flip if she saw what my room actually looked like. I use so many thumbtacks.”

Alenda laughs loudly at that, Likian allowing herself to chortle, the pair sharing a moment of silence. 

“So… Who do you think are the most likely to hook up in here?” The question blindsided Likian, only able to laugh as she choked on a bite of food. 

After clearing her throat, she looked over to Alenda. “I’ve got no idea. If I had to guess, someone’s going to try to hook up with Brynt, and he’s just going to have no idea what’s going on.”

Alenda laughed again, as Brynt walked in, only causing them to double down in laughter, leaving the counselor confused. 

The rest of the meal passed with much less talking until Likian returned to her room, relaxing as she read over her notes and looked over the photos, pondering what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Likian had some nice little chats, huh? That's just nice.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite
> 
> Also at the Tumblr ask me or the characters questions/give me your headcannons! I'm incredibly excited to hear what you guys think about my story!


	15. Chapter Two: The Terrors Of The Past, Part Three

The meal had ended pretty uneventfully, leaving Daniel alone with Likian to deal with the dishes. 

“Please, at least let me help out with some of the dishes, it seems unfair to leave you to cook and clean.” This was about the eighth time she had asked, the whole while, trying, and failing, to help with the dishes, pushed away by the group’s chef. 

“Oh please, I’m used to doing this. It’s what I spent what was supposed to be my time in high school doing anyways. It’s where I’m most useful. Shouldn’t you be out trying to figure out what’s happening out there? You seem to be the best suited for that.” He replied with a perfect smile, not wide enough to make it seem he was enjoying it, but being kind enough to make it clear that he wasn’t upset about the turn of events. 

“Actually, I usually just did interviews. Not much thought in that part. Besides finding out what they aren’t saying and why that’s important. So investigating… not really my thing. Leave that to Diana and Kasey. Not really my sort of thing.” She replies, managing to finally squirrel a plate out of his grip, laughing as she held it in the air, rushing to the sink to clean it, before pausing, gently placing her camera down by the sink for safety, before starting to scrub the dish clean. 

Daniel laughed with her, shaking his head as he placed the stack of dishes next to the sink. “Well, that does make enough sense. I wouldn’t expect a high schooler to be out tracking down some serial killer or another. Doesn’t quite seem logical.” He watches as she places the now cleaned plate next to the sink, reaching for the top. “Nope, you’ve helped, now back off. I’ve got to do my job here.”

Likian sighed, rolled her eyes, and retreated to the table, sitting down. “Well, at least I can keep you company for a little bit. Not like I’m doing much else today, right? I’ve just been talking with everyone, so I might as well keep that going. You mind if I write some of this down? It’s a memory thing.” 

“If it helps you remember, I don’t see any harm in it. Not like I’ve got some deep dark secret I can’t allow to go beyond this room.”

“I’m glad to hear that, I’ll be sure to make special note of that.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He chuckles, placing a plate over onto the clean side. “So, I bet you’re interested about what I was doing when I was supposed to be in high school. I ended up having to take care of my sister over that time. It’s a long story.”

“What’s it like, having a sibling? I’m an only child, so I’ve never really experienced what it’s like.” Likian peered up towards the tall cook, shifting silently in her seat.

“Well, my sister was a bit beyond me in a lot of ways. She was only a year younger than me, but she was way ahead of me in school, she would’ve been in here instead of me if she wasn’t already through uni by the time I was offered a chance to join here.” He admits, briefly pausing the washing to stretch for a moment.

“Your sister was a prodigy?”

“An incredible prodigy. She could do just about anything you asked of her, but she had her heart set on going through to become a chemist. She started working as a biochemist before long, working on medicines.” As he talks, his tone reflects a smile that grew on his face at the memories of a better time.

“Sounds like your sister didn’t need any support to get that far in life just off her knowledge. I’m pretty envious, honestly. Only ever did well in my social studies classes.” Likian offers a laugh with her joke, glancing around the room as the forced joke hung in nearly silent air.

Daniel took the chance to move on from the dead on arrival joke, though his cheerful tone kept itself the same. “Yeah, but she needed someone to feed her. Had to drop out to do so, but, guess I just found the thing I love doing by it, which was a nice surprise. After she got all the way to her career, she helped me through school in turn, and then I got picked up to come here. It’s almost weird, I just wanted to make sure she had a brother that she could be proud of.”

“That’s very adorable. I just started at a school newspaper and somehow got a job from there. Not like I really had much to do at home anyways, usually just ended up alone.” Likian drummed her pencil against the table a few times out of boredom, her legs fidgeting beneath the table.

“What do you mean?”

“Aunt and uncle were always out on business trips.” She admits quietly, glancing to the side once more.

“... Did you know your parents for long?”

The question sent a sucker punch to Likian’s gut, her pencil clattering against the table before her hands scrambled for it. “... Don’t have any memories of them even…”

“I remember my parents. They were good people. Didn’t deserve what they got, but I hope they’re proud of their kids wherever they are now.” 

The somber atmosphere that had overtaken the room was broken only by a nearly silent sniffle from the fragile reporter, as she clenched and unclenched random muscles to try and move on from what she was feeling. “I…”

“You can leave if you want, I know that it’s a hard thing to go through.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone after that though, you’re the one who actually knew your parents. You lost them, I just basically never had them…”

The silence returned, until Daniel dried his hands, walking over to Liian, gently pulling her into a hug. 

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be allowed to feel the loss of them. Come on, let’s get you to your room. Brynt will probably clean these happily.”

“.. ok”

She slowly stood, walking over towards the door, letting Daniel guide her back to her room. 

“Will you be okay alone?”

“Yeah. You go get Brynt to deal with dishes, I’m just gonna do some writing about what I found out today. Probably heading to bed before too too long”

“Alright. I’ll see you later then.”

“See ya.”

Likian slowly walked over to her bed, lying down with a silent sigh, suddenly feeling a weight of emotion as she figured out who the people in the photos back in her little room of memories were. 

The sudden crushing grief of realizing she didn’t recognize her own parents, despite the photos being seemingly impossible, left her unable to move until sleep dragged her off.

\--

She slowly stood from the bed, stretching to get her usual energy back as she stood up. 

She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she was pretty sure it was some time in the middle of the night. 

She yawned, stepping out into the hall, and down into the main area, walking to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Well, it looks like someone had dealt with the dishes, which was nice. 

She poured the glass, chugged it, and put the glass by the sink, walking out, and around towards the dorms, barely catching the sight of… someone walking back into the dorms before her.

She wasn’t able to make out many details, but figured it was probably just someone that had to run to the washroom, not thinking anything of it until the morning.

\--

She woke up once more, walking out to the main area once again before a shrill scream reached her, leading to her rushing over to the medbay, finding Aneitha at the door, staring into the room.

She slowly pushed Aneitha to the side to step into the room, and froze.

Derrick Merchail was lying in one of the beds, motionless.

A quick touch revealed ice cold skin and the utter truth of the situation. 

Another had fallen.

She started to write this down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And one more falls. Derrick Merchail, the Ultimate Diviner, found dead in the medbay.
> 
> Who did it? Why?
> 
> Those questions and more might be answered later.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	16. Chapter Two: The Terrors Of The Past, Investigation Part One

While she was writing down the details of the scene, the rest of the group slowly arrived, trickling into the room, the announcement about the discovery a simple hum in the background, unnoticed by the focused reporter. As soon as the scene was written up, the camera around her neck rose to her eye.

The photos were quickly taken, carefully angled, collecting a perfect shape of the crime scene. 

Only after the photos were collected did Likian turn around and look towards the group, all of whom were staring at Diana. 

“It only makes sense that I take the lead on this investigation! I solved the first murder, I should be allowed to solve the second without all of you trying to stop me.”

“It doesn’t make sense for you to investigate alone either, after all, you could be the killer and just frame one of us.” Micheal countered, glaring at the cryptologist with a silent sense of foreboding, as if he knew something none of the others did.

“I’ll work with the crime photographer over there then.” She points at Likian over her shoulder, to which Micheal shrugs, seeming to back off. 

It was at this point that Brynt started pointing at the group one by one, silently counting. “Where’s Kasey?”

“S-she’s just asleep,right?” Anietha suddenly asks, looking around for the quiet student. “I-it’s not like two people could’ve been killed last night, right?” 

The silence is all the answer she needs, as she quietly whimpers, stepping out into the hall silently, Alenda looking after her, and with a gentle motion of her hand, follows her out into the hall, leaving a measly 11 contestants standing in the room. 

“The rest of you can follow them, it’ll make investigating easier.” 

“I think I’ll stick around, make sure everything is okay in here. Make sure you two aren’t in cahoots or anything.” Micheal replies, as Brynt corrals the group out of the room, MIcheal taking up a post watching over the room from the corner. 

“Fine. Just don’t touch anything. Likian, are you ready to write down everything I say?” 

Likian takes a deep breath, readies her pen and paper, and nods, Diana walking over to the body, pulling out her tablet, and opening the death file, “Victim: Derrick Merchail, height: five foot eleven inches, weight: two hundred and nineteen pounds. Cause of death: overdose of various prescription drugs, including, but not limited to, various PEDs, opiates, and blood thinners. Derrick was found in a bed in the medbay, covered in dozens of small puncture wounds, each about a millimeter in diameter.” 

Likian writes this down quickly, watching Micheal out of the corner of her eye. 

“We can assume he was brought here during the night, likely of his own will as there’s no sign of any struggle, seeing as the beds and equipment are all still in place.” 

“Then how was he killed? It would take a lot of time to inject him that many times, and why wouldn’t he fight against it? Maybe he just met the killer in a different room and they brought him here.” Likian wonders, looking towards Diana with a puzzled expression. 

“Are there anesthetics in here? He could’ve just knocked out with one of those, as long as the dose is large enough, they’ll take down anyone. Though there is no way to disprove that he wasn’t met in a different room and only brought here. But we should follow the leads we know we have.” The tired cryptologist turns to face Micheal. “If you’re going to be here, be helpful. See if there are any in the room. Thank you.” 

The contortionist shrugs, starting to scan the shelves, Likian taking the moment to snap a few photos of the layout of the room, catching Diana crouching, appearing to be digging through a cabinet, and Micheal as he tries to read various medicine’s names to himself.

The layout of the room now documented, Diana calls Likian over, pointing at the vials in it. “There’s your smoking gun. It could’ve been anyone, there’s more than enough in here to knock out someone that weighs hundreds and hundreds of pounds.” She picks one of the vials up, holding it to the light. Before returning it. Likian takes a quick photo of them before something stands out to her, picking one of the vials, reading the label in full.

“Doseage: Derrick Merchail.” She mutters to herself, writing that little detail down quickly before standing up, turning to look at Diana. “Anything else we should check in this room?”

“No. We’re going to go check the rest of the floor, starting with the obvious motive, those rooms with mementos in them. Come on.”

“Are you sure you’re done in here?” Micheal asks before they can leave, blurting the question out suddenly. “There’s got to be more that matters in here.”

“I can’t think of anything else.”

“Then let Likian search. She’ll probably track something down. It’s not like we have infinite time to find things out, and the crime scene should have the most evidence.”

“Fine. Go ahead Likian.”

Likian nods, returning to Derrick’s body first. The area was clean of needles, vials, or any other signs of the murder weapon, making a small note about the weirdness of this occurrence. 

The next place checked was the vials of anesthetics, as she carefully went through each, trying to figure out which was missing. It ended up being Gina’s, which was quickly recorded by the reporter, standing again as she scans the shelves, taking note of where vials of medicine were missing from.

They end up being mostly from right near the body, with far too many missing for it to be by accident, but far too many differing names to actually figure out a list of everything that was pumped into Derrick. 

A quick search of the floor did reveal one more point of interest, a single syringe that had been seemingly lost beneath a cabinet, but beside all of that, there wasn’t anything else of mention, just more vials, boxes, and bottles of medicine. 

“Well, was there anything important?” Diana asks with a sigh.

“Yeah, actually. There was a single syringe under one of the cabinets. I have no idea where it came from, but it seems important.” Likian replies, holding the glass tube up for inspection by the others, Diana quickly snatching it away. 

After a moment's pause, she held it to the light, pulling back the plunger, a drop of clear liquid flowing down the side.

“It appears this is our murder weapon. Useful. How did I miss it?” She slowly depresses the punger again, gently tucking it away into her pocket. “I’ll hold onto it for it’s safety, we don’t need to have it end up broken somewhere. So, is that good enough for you? Can we go investigate elsewhere?”

“Fine. You two have fun with that.”

“Very well, I assure you we’ll enjoy investigating the murder of one of the few others in this place to the best of our abilities.” The deadpan reply sent Micheal off in a huff, as he vanished out the door, moving to the dorms as the investigative pair made their ways to the other unique room on this floor. 

“So you want to see if there’s something of interest in there, right? Cause you can’t get into other peoples rooms. So we can only see the hall.” Likian asked, her pencil flying over the pad of paper she always held.

“Maybe we can get into the rooms of the dead, or the Gamemaster will open them for investigation.” Diana doesn’t even spare a glance towards her as she reaches the door, pushing it open before slamming it closed again.

“What’s wrong?” 

“I found Kasey….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. Micheal doesn't trust Diana, Diana is holding onto a key piece of evidence, and Kasey has been found.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	17. Chapter Two: The Terrors Of The Past, Investigation Part Two

“I-is she in there?” The tone of Diana’s voice had conveyed everything she needed to know, but she felt that asking was for the best.

“... Yeah.”

The door was opened once more, Likian stepping inside as the pungent scent of blood hit her nose. 

Kasey was there, lying on the ground, her arms and legs splayed out as though she was trying to get up, her hair matted with blood, the still drying liquid forming a pool around her head. Lying but a few feet away was a bloodied book, the pages nearly unreadable with the amount of the liquid that had seeped in, but it was recognizable as the notebook the girl on the floor could’ve been found reading more often than not. 

Likian had to pause and collect herself before she could even raise her camera. She never covered anything like this… there was just… so much blood…

A static filled the room. “The body of Kasey Belinda, the Ultimate Student has been discovered in the memory room!” There was a brief pop between sentences, but the Gamemaster continued despite that. “Your time for investigating has been doubled due to the discovery of a second body. Hurry up before I’m bored.”

Diana stepped in, pulling latex gloves that she had grabbed from the medbay on before handing a pair to Likian. “Do you have the photos you need?”

“Not yet. I just need to take a couple more, capture the area.” The photographer replies, pulling on her own gloves.

Diana nods, standing off to the side. 

A few more shutter clicks ring out, though a faint noise catches her attention during one photo.

“Did you hear that?” She asks, turning to face the cryptologist.

“Hear what?” The girl turned away from the corner of the room, where she had been seemingly studying something, but as she stood, nothing was left behind.

“There was this little noise, it sounded like something getting broken.” Likian explains, rubbing the side of her head, the latex squeaking against it due to the thin layer of sweat that she had built up thanks to the stressful situation.

“Nope, are you done with your photos now? We need to investigate this.” The cryptologist walked away from the corner, pulling one hand from her pocket, a small patch of skin visible through the blue material covering it.

“Uh, yeah, I should have enough.” She replies hesitantly, flicking through the photos she had quickly, noticing one that shows Diana in the corner, picking something up in a pinching motion. 

“Good. Let’s get to work.” She produces her tablet again, holding it up to Likian. “Read me the death file.”

Likian nods, grabbing the tablet. “ Victim: Kasey Belinda, height: five foot six inches, weight: one hundred and fifty pounds. Cause of death: blunt force trauma to the skull. Kasey was found on the ground in the memory rooms, with several impact wounds on her head, bleeding heavily from each. A few feet away is a bloodstained textbook.”

“Nothing intensely useful. It appears the murder weapon was the textbook, as it would be accessible by both parties and work to cause the injuries found here.” She points at a few points on Kasey’s head with a pen, tilting her head as she did so to study it.   
  
“Do a lot of codes involve solving murders?” Likian pondered, as she bent down to look at what Diana was pointing out.

“No.” 

A silence hung in the air between them as Diana searched the body, eventually tilting the limp form onto her side, pulling out a picture frame, but an empty one at that.

“This looks familiar. It’s one of the frames from inside the rooms here.” Diana notes, setting it down to the side, as she continues to search Kasey’s body.   
  
“There’s no photo here,” Likian suddenly realizes, “you won’t find one on her, I bet. Which begs the question; was there ever a photo?” 

Without thinking, the reporter moves towards the door that would lead to Kasey’s memories, the lock no longer holding it closed, as what Kasey said returned to her. “Her room was empty…”

“What?” Diana looked up from Kasey, a look of shock crossing her face as she walked over to Likian and the pair looked into the room.

Sure enough, there were two more empty frames in there, along with a small piece of paper that Likian quickly picked up. 

“Sorry Kasey, but I’m afraid there are no memories you have that would make you want to go back home, so instead of anything at all, you get nothing. The Gamemaster.” Likian read it off quickly, before tucking it into her pocket, figuring it could come in handy at some point.

“So what does that mean for us?” Diana asks, looking up to meet Likian’s eyes. “You’re better with people than I am.”

“It means that the frame we found was taken from Kasey’s room, most likely by her own will…”

The two of them were left in silence as they turned back to face the door marked with Derrick’s name, the very reason they had come there, the only reason that Kasey had been found, the motive given to the Diviner by the Gamemaster.

The door was pushed open, revealing the room, and it’s contents, piles of smashed glass, torn paper that must’ve been the photos, and, in the center of it all, a shred of cloth, bloodied to being a sickly deep red in colour. 

“Well. That’s a weird one.” Diana says, walking into the room, her shoes crunching over the glass shards on the floor as she crouches down to lift the fabric, holding it up to the light. 

The blood had dried, a few chunks of glass still attached to it by the aforementioned fluid, the fabric all but unidentifiable due to the staining. 

Likian remained in the door, slowly raising her camera up to take a quick photo of the room, still silent in the shock of the view. 

Diana eventually stood, pulling Likian out of the doorway, shutting it behind her. 

“Nothing else of use in there. We don’t need to dwell on useless places when we’re under a time limit. We need better evidence for Kasey’s murder now anyways.” 

The clinical tone left Likian stunned, even as she took her time searching the room, and idle test to a few other doors ensuring that the locks still worked for all those still living.

“What else is there to find….” Likian muttered to herself, looking over the room from the corner, unable to see anything worth seeing, for lack of a better turn of phrase. 

“I don’t know, but if there’s something to find, we should find it as soon as possible. Odds are we’re low on time.” The suddenly deadpan cryptologist is left silent, even as she reaches down to search Kasey’s body even more. 

“You already searched her, there can’t be anything left of use-!”

Likian is cut off by a blast of static. 

“Contestants, please make your way to the locked doors, it’s time for the moment I’m sure you were all waiting for so excitedly! It’s time for the trial for the murders of Derrick Merchail and Kasey Belinda! So get your asses over here.”

The static shuts off, Diana’s eyes wide in shock as she pulls her gloves off out of instinct. 

“We might be dead….” She quietly realizes as they move to the doors, joined by the rest of the group from the kitchen, Alenda supporting a sick seeming Aneitha, who leans against the wall, her face pale. 

Maya and Jake are engaged in an intense debate about who is the most prolific director. Something about proper casting, scene set up,and all of that. It was mostly gibberish to Likian.

Daniel and Dearen are both chatting with an animated Gina, who was pointing around at different people, cursing them out without any hesitation, clearly unhappy with how everything was happening.

Micheal was almost as pale as Aneitha, fiddling with something in his pocket as Maria talked his ear off, even as he only blindly agreed, his eyes locked on the doors to the memory rooms.

Brynt finally walked over to Diana and Likian, sighing. “I kept them all in the kitchen so we wouldn’t interfere with you guys. But, uh, I hope you guys can explain what happened.” He glanced down, noticing the red footprints that lead back to the memory rooms while clearing his throat. “I’m assuming it wasn’t pretty…” 

“Death hardly ever is.” Diana replies with a harsh tone, as she guides Likian onto the elevator. “Let’s get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12 enter, who knows how many will exit? Were Likian and Diana able to discover enough to prove who killed either victim? Or are they doomed....
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	18. Chapter Two Evidence

Death File: A file listing information about the victim. Missing a time of death for unknown reasons. 

Lack of a struggle: The room is in perfect condition, suggesting that either the killer didn’t meet Derrick there, or he came there willingly.

Photos of the body: The photos show that Derrick was left in a bed, and everything surrounding him. Despite his injuries, there are no needles in sight. 

Photos of the room: Shows the layout of the room and the objects in it, also pictured are Diana, seemingly holding something made of glass, and Micheal reading a bottle of medicine.

Anesthetics: 15 bottles of anesthetic, one for each contestant at the start of the game, except for GIna’s.

Syringe: Found under a cabinet in the medbay by Likian, taken away by Diana for safekeeping.

Death File: A file listing information about the victim. Missing a time of death got unknown reasons.

Photo of Diana: Taken when first investigating Kasey’s death, shows Diana picking something up.

Empty Picture Frame: Found under Kasey’s body, identical to the frames in the other memory rooms, but there’s no photo in it.

Kasey’s Memory Room: Two more empty frames and a short note reading “Sorry Kasey, but I’m afraid there are no memories you have that would make you want to go back home, so instead of anything, you get nothing. The Gamemaster.”

Destroyed Memory Room: Derrick’s memory room was destroyed, the photos ruined, with a single piece of bloodied cloth on top of the ruins.

Shred of cloth: Found in Derrick’s memory room, the colour unknown due to being stained with blood, sitting atop the glass in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	19. Chapter Two: Trial Part One

The ride to the trial room was tense, and nearly silent, save for the quiet mutterings of a few select people, mostly Diana trying to puzzle anything out.

Likian’s pencil scraped over the paper in front of her, as she catalogued all potentially useful information, each word giving the leads she needed to remember what the cule was. 

The silence was broken properly when the elevator stopped, Diana walking with a purpose towards the stands until she tripped, landing harshly on her hip.

Brynt was the first to react, helping her to her feet, as she felt at her pocket.

“Fuck!” She suddenly burst out, reaching into her pocket, pulling out a sharp shard of glass with a dot of blood on the end. “The syringe!”

That was all it took to bring Likian over, gingerly taking the glass. “It’s okay, we still have the picture of it, but you should deal with the bleeding first, right?” 

“The bleeding doesn’t matter! We have to deal with the case first!” Diana bit her thumb after she announced that, clearly trying to distract from the pain that would come from having various shards of glass stuck into her leg. 

Likian looked over at Brynt, who sighed, and shook his head. “The bleeding isn’t bad enough to be deadly, but I’m more worried about infection, we don’t know what was in the syringe…” 

Diana walked over to her post, glaring at the others. “Well, we can deal with it after I get out, so let’s get to the trial so we can prove who killed Kasey and Derrick!”

Likian couldn’t help but sigh as she took her place, placing her notepad and camera on the podium, taking a deep breath as she readied herself. 

The new additions to the room were a photo of Ethan, a red silhouette of one of the bracelets he wore during his punishment pasted over his face, a crudely drawn needle over a picture of Derrick, the very end of the needle holding a single droplet, and a red book covering the face of Kasey, leaving each memory desecrated in its own special way.

And then it started all over again, screens descended from the roof, showing Kasey’s body, and the blood pooled around it.

Then the light lit up Diana, and the trial began.

“We have to start by establishing a timeline as both Death Files are missing a time of death, and that will allow us to plot out the path of the killer.”

The light jumped to Micheal, who was still pale as death, as he swallowed and cleared his throat. “Killer? Singular? What evidence do you have that there’s only one?”

The light moved over to Diana once again. “What are the odds that two plans went off on the same night without a hitch? We can assume that Kasey’s death was the rushed one, seeing as Derrick was put to sleep and then killed with a cocktail of drugs, while she was beaten to death with an object that was close at hand. Therefore we can assume that Kasey interrupted the murderer.” She explains as calmly as she can through the pain, her fingers clenching the edge of her podium hard enough that her knuckles turned white.

“Then what’s to say that Kasey’s murder was simply unplanned?” Maya interjected, motioning at the air with one hand, a gentle tilt of her head as smirk covers her face. “If I was directing this movie, would it not be more interesting with two killers?”

The silence that settled after that sent the light flickering around, as different people grabbed it before realizing they had nothing to say.

The light finally settled on Diana again. “Okay, then let's find a timeline so we can establish alibis for each murder.”

Everyone nodded at that, and the case began proper.

“Starting off, we can assume Kasey hasn’t been dead for long as her blood wasn’t fully dried, meaning she likely died this morning. Any objections to that fact?”

Nobody even so much as took the light, until Likian did, thinking over the case for a moment longer.

“And we can assume Derrick’s been dead for a little while longer due to the length of time his muder would’ve taken, waiting for him to go to sleep, then for the drugs to run their proper course, along with clearing up anything left behind afterwards.”

There was no disagreement after that, so the light moved back to Diana.

“Then we should all say where we were during the night. I’m going to assume you were asleep, but if you have anything else to add, feel free to.”

The light moved in a circle around, until it landed on Micheal, who lifted his head, looking around a bit. “I woke up a bit earlier than normal, and I know this because nobody else was around, I went to the kitchen, but not even Daniel was there yet, so I just went back to my room to try and get a few more minutes of sleep.”

Likian made a note of the words, as the light continues around until it meets Likian.

“I woke up in the middle of the night, and went to get a drink of water. Saw someone walking back into the dorms on my way back, but I couldn’t make much out about them.”

It finally returns to Diana, who thinks for a moment, before looking up once more. “So that leaves us with three suspects, Micheal in the murder of Kasey, and Likian and the person she claimed to see in the murder of Derrick. Of course, that’s assuming nobody is lying about seeing nothing. If anything, this has left us no closer to the answer.”

The silence returned until the cryptologist spoke again. “We should start with Kasey’s death, as it has more questions up than Derrick’s. Any objections?” 

Nobody raised any questions, until Micheal spoke up again. “But we just concluded Derrick’s happened first, shouldn’t we focus on that? Actually, hey! Gamemaster! What happens if there’s two killers?” 

The static filled the room as the familiar modulated voice started up again. “Why, it’s simple. First come, first served! So only the first death even matters!” 

The audio snow fades out as the reality of the situation sinks in. 

“There. We should focus on Derrick because he died first!” Micheal insists, throwing his hands up, a bit of colour peeking back into his face.

Likian steals the light before Diana can get it. “I agree with Micheal, we should work on Derrick’s death, it makes the most sense. So let’s work at that, right?” 

Diana takes the light back “We should still solve Kasey’s death! It might be useful!” 

“Then we can solve it when it becomes important…” Maya pokes in, tilting her head once again as she studies the group. “The plot always begins from the very start, right? So why not start unravelling it from there? We know the end, and a rough enough timeline to begin the recap. So why not enlighten us as to what happened to Derrick?”

Diana gestured to Likian, who took the light, swallowing softly before looking up to the group. “Derrick was found in the medbay, in one of the beds, killed via injection of various different drugs in order to cause an overdose. It is likely the killer used an anesthetic to force Derrick to fall asleep, and then induced the overdose, before returning to their room. In the morning, he was found by Aneitha, upon which the rest of us showed up, and the investigation began.” 

The light passed over to the nervous Aneitha, who had to take a few deep breaths before she could speak. “I woke up and had a bit of a belly ache, and I figured there would be something for it in the medbay, which is when I saw him, already dead when I opened the door.” 

Brynt then took centre stage, the light shining over him. “Alright, so that leaves us with the timeline of; sometime in the night, Derrick and his killer meet up in the medbay, and Derrick is put to sleep and then injected with various medicines. He dies, the killer cleans up, and Likian spots them escaping into the dorms on the way back from getting some water. After that, later, likely in the morning, Kasey meets her killer in the hallway as seen on the screen, where she is… beaten to death with her own textbook, implying a lack of planning, and left there unti discovered. Then, Aneitha finds Derrick, and the investigation begins, with Likian and Diana doing it.”

“Alright, so that’s assuming Likian isn’t lying.” Alenda suddenly points out, her hand floating up to point at her. “How can we trust her, did she get a photo or something? Come on, give us some proof!”

A moment of silence passes over until Likian speaks up. “I just thought they were coming back from the washroom or something, how could I have known that it would be important?” She shoots back, glaring at Alenda. “It’s my entire life to tell the truth, what kind of reporter would I be if I spread around lies like that?”

The light moved to Aneitha once more, as she looked over to Alenda. “Likian did some of the investigating… I think we should trust her…” 

Jake takes the light next, looking at Likian deeply. “I know when I’m talking with someone in character, and she’s herself, through and through…”

Diana took the light next, and sighed. “We can’t rule out that someone who investigated was part of the case, there’s nothing saying otherwise.”

Micheal perks up at that, as the light floods over him. “Then how can we trust you? W-why were you so insistent that you should be the one investigating! You dragged her into this, and now you’re just going to question if she’s even trustworthy?” 

“Fine.” Diana concedes, sighing. “Then that must mean that whoever it was that she saw was the killer. That means we have one person it can’t be, and eleven it can be. Unless there is one thing in common in these murders, which, in this one version of things, would be the involvement of Kasey Belinda.”

A flurry of noise followed, even as Diana held up a hand for silence, until it finally died down.

“There is a possibility that Kasey killed Derrick, she was always reading a biology textbook for goodness sake, and then in the morning, was killed herself.” 

“That can’t be right…” Likian mumbles, knowing there was something weird with that idea, before it clicked for her.

“It wasn’t her who killed Derrick.” 

The words shocked Likian from her thoughts, as Micheal looked out over the group in utter silence. 

“I know it wasn’t her, because I’m the one who killed Kasey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a bombshell....
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	20. Chapter Two: Trial Part Two

“She… she asked me to.” 

“I woke up early, and I just felt this horrible pang of… loss, I just wanted to see the photos again, so I went to the rooms. When I got there, she was already standing there, holding one of the picture frames from her room. She started talking to me about what was going on, about how she didn’t have any photos in her room, that she didn’t have any memory that would make her want to go home…”

“‘I just don’t understand how they think I’ll want to keep trying to survive if I don’t have anything to survive for.’... Those were her words, and she handed me the textbook. ‘You have something to fight for. Just go ahead. I don’t want to keep going.’”

“...How was I supposed to say no in that moment? I had come there because I wanted to go home, and she told me she wanted to let me go home! I didn’t think, I just hefted it up, and…” 

A moment of silence passed.

“She was lying there, but she had torn off a bit of my shirt, so I ran to what I thought was my room, but was Derrick’s, seeing as it was all destroyed. I tossed the scrap in without thinking and ran off to clean up before anyone could see me.”

“But she said it herself! She didn’t have any reason to kill, so someone else killed Derrick!”

“But, I… I fucked up! I know that! I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to help you catch Derrick’s killer and redeem myself after the mistake I’ve made! I promise!”

His outburst silenced the group as he pleaded to them, until Diana took the light. “That leaves us with nine suspects for who killed Derrick, however, I’m pretty sure I didn’t, so that leaves us with eight, so let’s try to rule people out. Let’s start by going over what happened to him, so we can see if there’s anything that can highlight someone, or defend someone else.”

“So let’s start with the scene of the crime. It was clean, which implies that either he was transported there after being drugged and knocked out, or killed, or he came there of his own volition. Seeing as transporting him or the drugs would be high risk for a kill that was clearly heavily planned, we can rule out that he was killed somewhere else, leaving us to assume he was summoned there. So who would he trust the most? Brynt would be an obvious pick, he helped solve the first murder and has a trustworthy talent.”

“From there, the options get slim. An actor is hard to trust, but also, said actor hasn’t given a reason to be untrustworthy, which leaves him as a maybe, after that, there’s the director, so mysterious, so aloof, and so extravagant. A murder as set up as this would fit with her, would it not? I don’t think we can rule her out.”

“In fact, I think there are only a few people we can rule out, them being Brynt, and Aneitha. I don’t see either of them doing something as out there as this for their murders.”

Diana then pondered for a moment, only for Micheal to take the stage yet again. “How do we know we can trust you? You solved the first murder, you don’t have the air of a murderer, but you insisted on investigating, and didn’t give anyone a chance to stop you. It’s suspect to me, at the very least, that you would only take someone else to work with you after we made you, almost as if you wanted to hold all the knowledge to yourself.”

“Why would I investigate my own murder?”

“So you could frame someone else without a worry. You leaving yourself off the list of suspects just rubs me the wrong way!”

“Fine, I’ll allow you all to suspect me, but I will battle to prove my innocence.” Her knuckles kept her grip on the podium as she spoke with a rage fueled vigor, the pain clearly drawing more emotions from her. 

“So, let’s start discussing the evidence we have so we can answer the question that hangs over us all. Who killed Derrick?” 

Alenda took the spot next, looking around for a bit. “So, if he was summoned there, why did he go?”

“M-maybe he was told there was a plan to escape!” Jake suggests, excitedly perking up with the idea. 

“Or maybe he was told that there was something he could help with in there, maybe someone had lost something embarrassing, or dangerous.” Daniel adds with a shrug, though his tone is less than sure of his own words.

Maya tilts her head slightly, her face not showing any signs of shock or surprise. “Maybe he was just asked there by someone trustworthy at the very baseline, being told that he’d get more information when he arrived there.”

“Those are all possible, but they leave many things up in the air. Knowing of Derrick’s talent and skill for tracking down due to it, it seems the most likely thing is he was brought there for that.” Diana comments, her voice starting to falter ever so slightly.

“Uh oh. Looks like she’s running low on adrenaline. Maybe even a bit anemic… We should tie this up quickly.” Brynt quickly tosses in, even as Diana’s hand vanishes behind the podium, returning with red fingertips.

“I’m fine,” Diana spits out with finality, some amount of her energy having returned, “but why do you know so much about stuff like that?”

“Well, every year that I was to work at a summer camp, I’d have to take wilderness first aid, which includes stuff like that. Doesn’t cover medicine, just basic treatments to give while waiting for help to arrive.” Brynt replies steadily, his hands raising from the podium to cross over his chest as he glares across at Diana. “Do you think I would kill Derrick? I would never even think of hurting anyone! Much less hiding it from you all!” 

“I never said anything about that. I was just curious why you didn’t offer to help with autopsies during this.” The cryptologist replies, tilting her head slightly. “I thought you would, unless you had something to hide from us….”

“I thought my skills would be better used for crowd control, keeping you free to work. Between what you seem to know and those files the Gamemaster gives us, I thought you’d be fine.” His hand slowly lowered back down to the podium, as he sighed to himself. “Plus I know nothing about any of those medicines. I can only really help with things you’d be allowed to put in a med kit.”

“Fine. I guess that makes sense.” Diana concedes, shrugging. “Though, there is someone here that still sticks out to me.” Her bloodstained finger raised, meeting the eyes of a silent person across the room. “Dearen, why are you so quiet? Despite how you act usually, you’re typically okay with at least talking, right?”

“... Why are you so agitated?” The pale boy asked in return, his head tilted slightly. “You’re typically calm, so what has made you act so oddly… Is it the pain? The loss of Kasey, your closest friend in this game?” His eyes drift closed for a moment, before opening again. “... I don’t talk much. It’s not my thing.”

Diana is left silent as she stares at Dearen, astounded. “Well, clearly I’m not going to be calm when my leg’s filled with shards of glass, you idiot. So, what do you know about this case?” 

“... Micheal’s innocent for Derrick’s death, he isn’t lying in the slightest. You’re agitated, possibly due to the trauma of the death of Kasey. Brynt is also innocent. He’s miles from being the killer here. I trust him.” He scans the room for a moment longer, the entire group staring blankly at his as he speaks, his monotone voice commanding the room. “Really, the only one I can think of to suspect is, well, you, miss cryptologist.” 

“Again, why would I investigate this if I was the killer? I’d rather have you clearly helpless lot take it on, if you’re all so keen on the idea of me being a suspect, if I actually was the killer!”

“... Take a deep breath, look around for a few seconds, take another deep breath, and then we can continue.” 

“Oh! While you do that, I should share my photos! Can’t believe I forgot to even mention that!” Likian quickly grabs her camera, flicking through the photos. “Uh, would there be a way to put this up on the big screen for us?”

A pause, and static, before the voice that had been tormenting them the entire time returns. “Of course, just give me a moment.”

The static faded as a small portion of Likian’s podium flicked up, revealing a small slot for SD cards. After a moment of opening the camera and retrieving the card in question, briefly nodding at the choice of brand and size, before placing it in the slot. 

Before long, the images that were on the camera were blown up and put on the big screen, replacing the footage of Kasey’s body with the still image taken when Likian and Diana had first arrived. 

“Not half bad cinematography.” Maya comments with a vague gesture. “Captures everything in the shot, while giving a sense of scale, allowing the body to play it’s part without overrunning the scene with it. Wonderfully done.” 

“I don’t think that’s the important part here, I think it’s more imperative to understand why it’s taken so long for you to show these, considering they could have vital information.” Diana spits, glaring over at the suddenly nervous reporter.

Likian stumbles over in her mind for a moment, before Dearen speaks up again. “What are you doing in this image, Diana? It appears that you’re picking something up, I would like to learn what. It could be… imperative, as they sometimes say.”

“I was checking out a discolouration in the paint on the wall! It seemed odd!” Diana counters, leaving Dearen to shug. 

“Alright. I suppose that would be something of note, given the circumstances. Likian, would you care to figure out how to switch this over to the images that are pertinent to Derrick’s death?” Dearen asks, with a subtle smile. 

Likian turns her focus back to her podium, fiddling for a second before the first photo is shown, the sight of Derrick’s body filling the screens, though none of the group avert their eyes, leaving them to stare at the image in silence.

“This photo doesn’t appear useful.” Dearen comments, his eyes lowering to meet Diana’s. “Would you agree? After all, if I can’t figure out what my talent is, how could I solve a murder? I’ll leave that to our lead investigator.”

Each word he spoke were clearly annoying Diana, whose knuckles were turning white against the edge of her podium once more, her jaw firmly set as she took a deep breath. “No, there isn’t any new information we can find from just this photo, we should study other photos before the time limit hits.”

Likian nods, pulling up the next, showing the entire room from the perspective from in front of the bed Derrick was lying in, both Micheal and Diana seen holding small glass objects, even as Likian realized something about the photo that sent her searching what memories her mind could still conjure. 

“Hey Diana, why are all those cupboards closed?” She asks, trepidation falling from her words even as she looks over to the suddenly wide eyed and shocked code breaker, as her arms start to retreat behind the podium.

“She’s not going to answer that. She clearly didn’t expect this photo to exist, so it’s not within her plan.” Dearen interjects, sighing deeply. “I’m afraid she’ll need a moment to generate a way to make sure this ties into her story.”

“I… I am not doing that.” Diana replies, her eyes digging into Dearen’s chest. “I’m simply trying to analyse the information offered by this photo. It’s… There’s a lot there.”

“Diana, I have to ask, what are you holding in this photo?” Likian’s words echoed through the room, the majority of the group staring at the Cryptologist. 

A quiet laugh filled the air before falling silent. “I’d show you, if it wasn’t broken.”

“Diana….” The quiet words held more importance than the loudest screams. “... Did you kill Derrick?”

“She did.” Dearen cuts in, his eyes shut as he leans down against his podium. “I’m sure of it.”

“I didn’t.” Diana tosses back, her eyes scanning the room coldly. “I found the syringe, and placed it back, knowing that Micheal wouldn’t trust it as evidence if I was the one who found it. Is that answer to your satisfaction?”

“No.” Micheal forces in, his hands planted firmly on his podium. “I would’ve accepted it more if you were the one who brought it up! The fact that you would’ve allowed it to go undiscovered without me insisting someone else searched the room… If anything, that’s what makes me trust it the most!”

“I happen to agree with Micheal myself.” Dearen adds, stifling a yawn before continuing. “Oh, getting tired, anyways, what innocent person would want to hide evidence?”

Another moment of silence passed before static kicked in.

“Time is up, please, vote for the killer, right here, right now. No more debate.”

The static faded as everyone looked down to their podiums, fingers tapping away for a few seconds until the static returned.

“And, with 8 votes, the winner today is…. Diana Gilden! And the loser today is…. Also Diana Gilden! See you all at the punishment.”

And then everything went dark once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And such ends the life of our next contestant. And such a promising one as well....
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	21. Chapter Two: Execution

Unlike the last time she woke up, Likian woke up with an elbow jabbing her in the gut.

Her eyes blinked open as she looked around. There were eleven of them in the room, including Gina, whose elbow had made itself known to her already, all of them except for the… the killer of this case. 

Her eyes settled on the opposite side of a plane of glass, finding the prone body of the Ultimate Cryptologist. 

While the majority of them were in the same style of area, dark, but with clear limits, Diana appeared to be in a… living room? Yeah, there was a couch, some inane art, and a couple of potted plants, and a locked door.

One of the pictures flickered, revealing it was actually a screen, text appearing as the rest of the group stirred. 

“Escape Room, the Ultimate Cryptologist’s Punishment.” Likian read, as the rest of the group approached the glass, the words flickered away, as a drop of water fell from the ceiling, landing on Diana’s head, starting to rouse her from her sleep.

She stood slowly, turning her head from side to side as she studied the room, eyes eventually settling on the rest of the group, before turning away and staring at the room itself before a few more drops of water preceded a panel sliding to the side, water starting to fall into the room.

Diana’s eyes shot wide open as she walked over to the couch, a thin trail of red left behind thanks to the cuts on her leg, as she tore apart the couch, finding a small metal tablet, picking it up, reading it, and moving over to the door, inspecting the lock.

While she did this, Likian had started to beat her shoulder against the glass, only for Diana to turn around and shake her head at the noise, even as her hands were checking the lock for seams that might not have been visible.

Likian stepped away from the glass hesitantly even as Diana started in input a code, before trying to open the lock.

Her scream filled the air as she fell back against the wall, clutching her wrist as blood began to run down it, the metal spike retracting back into the lock, leaving her stunned for a moment as her blood dripped into the water, delicate blooms of red dissolving away as she returned to her search, tossing the plant down with her shoulder, before picking up another plate with her good hand, the water lapping up towards her knees now, the blood spreading from around her quickly. 

She returned to the lock, inputting another code before holding it in her already bleeding hand, having to take a deep breath before she can even start to squeeze down, another yowl of pain staining the ears of those stuck behind the glass, as Diana moved, driven on by the feeling of water as it starts to crawl up her thigh, a glance up giving her the knowledge that this was her time limit, the flowl not slowing even slightly, as she looked around, the entire room starting to gain a red tint as the light reflected through the water. Her eyes eventually locked back onto the couch, as she sat down, submerging her leg wound, blood blossoming out into the water.

The filigree of the life sustaining liquid continued to grow as her face started to blanch, until a hand raised up high, a fist slamming into her leg as a strangled noise of pain and anger courses through the air, as she stands, turning around, the water lapping at her waist as her head briefly visited the water as she flips the couch up, grabbing the third plate, placing it at the door, and another code was entered, as she bites her lip as the metal runs through her hand as the water licks at her fingers, leaving her to stare around the room in silent horror.

Her back presses against the wall as her hands slam against it, the pain causing her to screw her face up tightly as her body starts moving once more, her head diving under the water as she flips the table that was sitting in the middle of the room, placing it at the door as she read something off the bottom, each second, more of her blood flowing out into the water, even as she does her best to put in the final code despite the lock now being submerged, until she drops the lock, taking one breath, then another, the water rising to meet her rib cage as she tries this code, the only indication of it happening being another, darker burst of red appearing in the water as she yells, a primal noise of anger, pain, and fear.

She doesn’t even move away from the door before another burst of blood appears in the water, as her shoulders are teased by the cold liquid, leaving her to stare at where the lock is under the water, occasional burst of blood and noise leaving her.

As she starts to guess, the entire group is left silent, Aneitha hiding away in the corner, Alenda standing over her to keep her hidden from the sight as quiet mutters of “Why does it have to happen in here too?” leave the pair.

Brynt is left there to stare at the window in fearful silence, his mind surely running ever memories of her solving the first case, the only reason any of them were allowed to still be here. 

Maya watches the scene with cold eyes, through a rectangle formed by her fingers, her mouth silently mouthing out directions, shaking her head when she wasn’t able to figure out what was going on.

Micheal was sat by the glass, his forehead resting against it as his eyes stared into the empty air, the red light dancing over his face.

Somehow, Dearen was asleep in the other corner, his head resting against the wall as he rested.

Even as the water lapped away at Diana’s neck, she kept putting in codes, and kept getting her punishments, until she finally raised her hand from the water, staring at the blood covered, pale, hole riddled hand, as the water met her lips, a deep breath marking her final hope as she dived under, doing as best she can to solve the single thing holding her away from safety. 

Even as the moments ticked by, nobody was able to do anything, silently staring at the water with silent hope toying with their hearts until a dull thud, a pale face, and confirmation led them back to the blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A horrible fate to suffer through...
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	22. Chapter Three: Part One, Blooming Terrors

Sometimes, when she closed her eyes and focused, she could swear the flames that danced in her wallpaper were real, and it brought her back home.

Before long, she could feel the sun on her neck, and hear the clangs of her hammer as it hit whatever sorry piece of metal that was crossing her anvil, as a door opened a few feet away, the smells of metal, smoke, and the heat of the fire sticking to her clothing as her mom gently lays a glass of lemonade on the table.

And then Alenda would open her eyes and sigh. 

The flames were still, and surrounded her with a wall of engulfing coldness that only the charcoal left behind after a roaring flame could hold, to the point that she could swear the black dust was coating her limbs. 

She slowly sits up, her arms aching as though she had spent the entire time she was asleep working away at the forge, even as she standing up, slowly making her way to her door, pushing it open, finding herself face to fist with Aneitha, as the hand that was intending to kock instead rapped against the blacksmith’s chin.

“O-oh! Oh no! Are you okay?” The blond’s hand unravelled, reaching out to make sure that Alenda was okay.   
  
“I’m fine, don’t you worry about something as light as that!” The hardy woman replied, using one hand to push away the arm of the woodworker, smiling gently as she does so. “My jaw’s hardly gonna break from a couple knocks.”

Aneitha took a careful step back, sliding her arms behind her back, as she looked to the side with a sigh. “Still, I’m sorry… I just wanted to ask if you wanted to check out this place together! Seeing as you are the last person to wake up, and I decided to wait for everyone else to wake up before I asked you…”

A hearty chuckles breaks the awkward tone left behind after all of this, leaving the pair of them to just laugh for a moment.

“I’d be happy to look around with you, don’t you dare worry about that.” She took the initiative, stepping in, locking Aneitha up in a headlock, the pair left to laugh as they break apart, before Alenda takes the time to properly observe the area.

This place’s walls were coloured in with a shade of gray just barely too light to be considered black, the floor and roof still made of the same gray rock that had been around them the entire time, the silence of the hall an empty reminder of how almost a third of everyone they had arrived with were gone.

The pair walked out into the main area, an odd shape that really didn’t make sense for the room, a trapezoid, the door behind them on the widest side, the two sides constricting towards a locked door, chains covering it, with a pair of doors on either side leading to unknown areas.

“So, left or right?” Alenda asks, her hands rising to rest on her hips, a few inches over the hammer that hung against her right leg, that would tap against it with each step that she took, with a look over to Aneitha as she asked, allowing a very quick moment of silence to pass between them.

Aneitha returned to glance, freezing for a moment until her body jolted back into action. “R-right! Let’s go right….”

Very quickly, she started moving towards said door, leaving Alenda to play catchup, as they approached the door, Aneitha throwing it open quickly, peering in to see a wide expanse of flowers, trees, bushes, shrubs, all of them growing under the bright light coming from above the suddenly glass roof.

Fitting in between rows of green, red, white, yellow, orange, blues, purples, and traces of black and white, were some of the others still with them. 

Brynt, slowly picking a few flowers from each pot, gathering a bouquet, that to most who knew about arrangements would be odd to anyone who knows anything about flowers, but seemed perfect to Alenda’s stymied brain, especially given the circumstances. 

Maria was holding a pot of blue flowers, almost the colour of the sky above her head, staring at the light that speckled her face through the leaves.

Gina was slowly twirling a white rose between her index finger and thumb, staring at it intently.

And Dearen was… asleep, up against a bush. 

Alenda took a few tentative steps forward, closing her eyes, imagining, for half a moment, that the light on her skin was real, the sun allowing itself to dig into her skin, the gentle feeling of heat dancing over her skin drawing a contented sigh as her eyes slowly peeled back open. 

The rest of the group was looking at her, except Dearen, who was staring at his hands, blinking slowly every few seconds, though every returned to their previous actions pretty quickly, leaving the new pair to their own devices. 

Aneitha suddenly burst forward, grabbing Alenda’s wrist with a soft laugh. “Look at this! This is great! It’s all so… real!” Her hand reaches out, to pluck a flower, only for her to pull her finger back with a high pitched noise of shock, sucking on the tip of her finger for a moment.

“Did you prick yourself?” Alenda asks, gently pulling Aneitha’s hand over to her to look at it as a small bead of blood forms, the blacksmith taking a moment to wipe it away with her apron. “Aw, you’ll be fine. It’s just a small little thing.”   
  
“Yeah, I’ve done worse, it just spooked me.” Aneitha replies, slowly pulling her hand back to her side, leaning over the row of flowers. “Hey Brynt, do you have a bandaid on you?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, for sure.” He fishes into his pocket, pulling one free, handing it over. “I’d help put it on if I had both hands.” He gestures to the bouquet, with a laugh, and a shrug.

“What is that thing about? You got your eyes set on someone~?” Alenda teases, pointing to the flowers with a laugh, as Aneitha puts on the bandaid carefully, glancing up to Brynt with a mumbled thanks.

“I… I was gonna make something as a memorial for everyone…” Brynt quietly replies, fiddling with the flowers, allowing Alenda to notice how many band aids were covering his hands. His eyes followed her line of sight and laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I kept forgetting what roses were…”

“Happens to the best of us…” Aneitha throws in, with a sad smile. “I’m sure everyone will be happy to have a way to remember them all. Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. I’m just gonna… get going on that.” Brynt shrugs, holding his gentle smile as he walked off.

Alenda and Aneitha watch him walk off, the woodworker slowly sidling up to the side of the slightly smaller woman, as they watch him leave the greenhouse. 

The mood dampened, they don’t notice as Maria sticks a toy snake in between their heads.

Aneitha’s scream brought Alenda’s attention to the snake, and then up, along the snake to a hand, then up that arm to Maria.

“Really?”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that! Lighten up, you two looked about the same as that one photo… what was it… Mr.Pitchfork and Mrs.Judgmental? Something like that, who really cares.” The wild coloured, untamed hair around Maria’s head bobbed around with her motions, as her body moved wildly with each thought. 

Aneitha was leaning against the row of pots, doing her best to catch her breath, grabbing the snake away from Maria, who had to stifle a laugh. “Aren’t you even the slightest bit upset?” Alenda asks, looking at Maria with a hint of worry.

Maria… shrugged. “Less people have died here than during my last show, so I don’t see why I should be worried. Not like this is a much worse life than out there.” After managing a serious sentence, her smile simply leaps back onto her face. “But out there doesn’t matter anymore, does it? After all, we’re alive here, and that’s all I’ll ever need. Plus I finally got a private chef! That’s been on my list for years now, cause I can’t cook for shit!” 

Alenda spares a glance away from Maria, who has stuck her hands down into her pockets, halfway up her forearm, rummaging around, her tongue peeking out of the corner of her mouth. “Are ya okay Maria?” The blacksmith asks, despite taking a single step back, swallowing a pill of nerves that had formed in her mouth. Had she always been acting like this?   
  


“Peachy keen. You could cut me open and find a pit!” She doubled herself over with laughter at that, before slowly leaning back up, and quieting herself. “Oh come on, that was pure gold, and I didn’t even write it beforehand!” Tears held themselves in the corners of her eyes, the light from above gently flickering inside them. 

“Anyways, I’m a little hungry, I’m gonna go throw things at Daniel until he feeds me! Byebye!” Maria skips off, vanishing through the door before Alenda can muster anything to say.

“... I hope she’s okay. I don’t think she’s used to stuff like this….” Aneitha murmurs, staring at the door.

Until a tired voice piped from behind them. “She’s not even close to okay.” Dearen’s words were followed with a yawn and a stretch, a few gentle pops coming from his spine. “Oh. That was weird.” He rubs his back with one hand, even as he leans against the flower pots. “Welcome to the waking world once more Alenda, we’re glad to have you.” 

“Uh, thanks. What do you mean she isn’t? How are you so sure of that?” Alenda asks, turning to face him with a slight grimace, her arms rising to rest on her hips. 

“It was all over her, posture, her shoulders were slouched, back slightly bent, like someone carrying a heavy backpack, she was on the very edge of tears. She’s probably just back in her room now.” With each description, he models an exaggerated version of each example, gesturing to each as he demonstrates it. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

“Nope. I’ve got no idea what she’s on about with all that.” Alenda replies with a shrug, and a sigh. “Dunno. That stuffs beyond me. You don’t get lots of subtlety when it comes to hammers, fire, anvils, and raw metal.”

“Hey, why don’t you go check in on her then, Dearen? Seems like you know how to help people better than we could.” Aneitha suggests, putting a hand on Alenda’s arm to keep her quiet, along with a quick glance. 

“Guess I’ll do that, you two enjoy your date.” He walks off, barely reaching the door before Alenda starts talking again.    
  


“Hey! This isn’t a date! Just us checking out the area!” Her words fall on his deaf ears as he slips away, leaving her to sigh as Aneitha gently pets her arm to keep her calm.

Gina very, very quickly averts her eyes away from staring at the pair back to looking at her rose. The flower twirls around, petals dragging through the air nearly silently, as she stares blankly at the flower, not wanting to get caught up in all that.

Aneitha offers the miner a soft smile, a hint of sadness ringing in the corners of her eyes, which Gina returns, shrugging slightly. “So you two aren’t dating? Think that means I lost my best with Maya.” She laughs and shrugs ever so slightly, before just stepping back from the row of pots. “I think I’ll let you chat for a little while though. Don’t want to ensure I lose it!” 

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I think I’ll save worrying about who I’m gonna date until after I get away from the whole murder party in here.” Alenda comments, trying to force the ever so slight blush that was building in her cheeks down. “So you might as well pay up to Maya before too long.”

“Drat, there goes the rest of my honour.” Gina jokes, halfheartedly, with a shrug. “Though who’s to say what will happen in here, seems like anything is possible. You two should check in with everyone else though. They’re just across the way.” She nods towards the door, still holding the rose carefully. “I’m gonna stay in here for a little bit longer.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that. You have fun.” Aneitha gently lends Alenda out of the room, into the main area, where Brynt was placing down the flowers in the corner, using his knife to etch the names of the dead into the wall.

The pair choose to leave him be, slowly walking into the split room, between the kitchen and the bathrooms, slowly stepping into the kitchen.

Daniel was chopping up what looked to be carrots into small pieces, Likian sitting on the counter next to him, chatting with him as she scribbles in her notepad, laughing along to each of his jokes.

Jake and Maya are both leaning over a piece of paper, having a heated discussion about something Alenda would never even come close to figuring out.

And then there was… Micheal. 

He was sitting on the floor, in the corner, staring at the ground, with a silent face of pain that it seemed only he could understand in the moment. Everyone seemed to be… ignoring him, in the moment. 

Something about it seemed to awake a bead of sadness in her heart, even as she looked away. She didn’t know what people would think if she dragged Aneitha over to talk to him. She didn’t want to ruin her reputation like that, if it would be damaging.

Still, she wanted to at least say something to him.

“Hey, why don’t you grab us some seats at the table, I’m gonna let Micheal know what Brynt’s doing.” 

Aneitha nods along slowly, walking over to the table, settling into a seat as Alenda glides over to the corner.

“Hey.”

It’s the only word she can think to say, even as the contortionist slowly looked up from his place on the floor.

“... Why are you talking to me?”

Alenda stumbled on her words, unable to stop herself from feeling like his eyes were burning holes in her head, and worried about the eyes of the others locking onto her again.

“I… Brynt’s putting together something as a memorial in the main room… I… I thought you’d want to know about that.” 

He slowly looks away from her, back to the floor, and nods. 

“Thanks. You can leave now. You don’t need me dragging you down here. I know what you all think of me.”

He waves to her, falling silent as she slowly slinks away, taking her seat next to Aneitha once more. 

“That… I…”

Alenda is unable to come up with words here, as she feels Aneitha gently place her hand on the back of the other woman. 

“It’s fine, we can’t just fix everything right now. It’ll take too long for that to work.” Her tone is gentle, soft words, as she pats Alenda’s back. “We can only hope things will be okay someday.”

“... I just hoped I could make things a little better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully things will be okay after this.... someday....
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	23. Chapter Three: Part Two, Blooming Terrors

It didn’t take long for the rest of the contestants to join those already at the table, even as Micheal silently slipped out of the room, leaving the room emptier than it should’ve been.

A silence hung over them as the door closed, the soft ‘Whump’ caused a gentle shock to shoot up Alenda’s spine, suddenly sitting up straight, her eyes snapping wide open before looking down and closing her eyes, a deep breath rushing through her chest. 

And the silence remained until the meal was finally done.

The plates had ended up in the sink, and most of the people had filtered out, Daniel with a plate of food for Micheal, leaving Likian standing at the sink, arms buried in bubbles up to her elbows, as Alenda pokes a carrot stick with her fork, spreading around hummus mixture, that Daniel was really proud of, made with a pomegranate reduction and feta cheese, around the plate.

Aneitha had slipped off to do… 

Alenda put down her fork and groaned into her hands.

Had she seriously missed Aneitha telling her where she was going? 

Okay… alright then. Well done. Congrats. The award for worst friend goes to…

“Alenda, you okay there?”

… Well, it started with her name, that was good enough.

“I’m doing fine, just forgot something I wanted to do. It’s a pain, but it’ll probably just pop back up.” 

Well, maybe chatting with Likian would help jog her memory, or at least give her an excuse… whatever, just move from that.

“Are you sure that’s all? You seem a little aggressive with your carrot there. Are you sure there’s nothing else going on? Did the thing you forgot have to do with Aneitha? Cause you’re acting like it might. Did you two get in a fight? It’s a bit sad, but that might be the best scoop that comes out of this whole thing.” The reporter jokes, stepping away from the sink for a moment, drying her hands, and settling in across from the blacksmith, tilting her head slightly. “Don’t worry, this can be kept off the record.”

Alenda allows herself a single laugh as the reporter talks, before rolling her eyes and sighing. “It isn’t about her. Don’t worry about that. A lot’s just been happening. Pretty sure we all know that though.” She pushed her plate to the side, leaning her head on her hands as her elbows found their purchase on the table, the cold of the metal lightly biting into her skin despite her sweater. “Besides, with what I saw before we ate, I’m pretty sure you and Daniel are closer than me and Aneitha. He’s even allowing you to do the dishes, it’s positively scandalous.” 

“Oh god, don’t conflate me helping him so that Micheal can eat with something as extreme as hand holding. I’m just trying to help him out as best I can.” She shrugs, before mirroring Alenda’s pose, sticking her tongue out ever so gently, even as her notepad came to rest on the table, a pencil rolling through her fingers. “Oh come on. I’m sure even your ‘old fashioned’ dad couldn’t get mad about you and her getting together. You could build so many things.”

Alenda laughs awkwardly at the mention of her dad, sliding a bit away from Likian, eyes cast to the side as she leans back in her chair. “I don’t think he’d be able to mind. Not like I’d let him. I’d rather have to make something with just my bare hands before I let him control my life again.” The harsh bite of her words couldn’t be missed, as hands curled into fists, knuckles white as rough fingernails meet flesh, biting in ever so delicately. 

The silence held for a moment, then a moment longer, until fingers relaxed, leaving behind little indents that would fade, given time, but for now were reminders of the flurry of emotions they were stuck with right there and then. 

“Sorry about that. Bad memories, not something to chat about over… hummus.” 

Likian is left silent for a moment, the gears in her head left to turn before words were able to be conjured. “Oh, no, it’s fine! We’ve all got bad memories, some happen to be worse than others. I’ll drop the topic. Do you have something you’d rather talk about?”

“Sure. Let’s talk a bit more about you and Daniel, cause I’m not sure I buy your tale about it being just to help. You two seemed fairly close even before the meal started up there.” A forced smile twisted it’s way onto Alenda, her face forcing itself into a mockery of her normal smiles, her eyes left empty. “Just want to make sure that I’m not missing out on any of the really juicy details.”

“I, Likian Erned, solemnly swear to inform you before I do anything else if me and Daniel end up hooking up.” She holds her right hand up in the air, her left crossing her chest, as though she was being sworn to oath in a court of law. “He’s just a solid guy, and I figure we should give him as good a reason as any to remain trustworthy. I have this weird feeling that he’s sometimes helpful.”

“You’re giving me the run around, aren’t you?” 

“We had a first actual talk like two days ago! We aren’t hooking up in the broom closet!” The exasperated tone spoke more than any words could, making the exhaustion of the girl more obvious as she rolled her eyes, doing her best to ignore the clear emotional lies being given off by Alenda. 

Alenda’s forced laugh rings in her own ears, some part of her brain screaming at her to just… feel how she should.

Five. 

Five dead people. 

That’s why she needs to feel! 

But…

“Oh, come on, it’s high stress… hormones are at high levels, who’s to say that nothing’s gonna happen?”

Yeah. That made enough sense. It was just the stress. That kept her off balance. That’s why she wasn’t feeling much. 

“Nothing’s going to happen between us! Come on!”

She was feeling a lot, Likian was. That was clear. Look at her. She’s sunk into this…. meaningless talk. Nothing about this mattered. So why would it matter to someone who had normal feelings.

Whatever.

“And you think something’s gonna happen with me and Aneitha… why then?”

This was a fencing thing, right? R… repoist? Repost? Something like that. Black and stab, that was close enough for her. Wasn’t like a blacksmith needed to know how to use the swords she makes.

“Cause you two keep making those eyes on each other!”

Ah. A repost of her own. Impressive. 

“And I saw you making those eyes at Daniel!”

Boom. There’s the bomb. What’s gonna stop her now? Nobody can! Woot!

“... Let’s just call a truce, this isn’t going to end until someone concedes, and I don’t think either of us will. I’ve got dishes to do, you’ve got woodworkers to seduce, this just seems like our best option here.” 

“Fine, but I will not be seducing any woodworkers until later, at the least. Once we get out of here, all of that.” 

A silent agreement, and then Alenda stands, walks to the door, opening it as she looks back over her shoulder, unable to stop herself from saying “Don’t forget protection.” as she walks out of the door, the muffled complaints from behind it causing a real laugh to finally reach her lips, even as she steps back out into the main room. 

In the corner sat the memorial from Brynt, the names of the girls on one side and the guys on the other, a single bundle of flowers, reds, whites, purples, blues filling the space beneath names carved into the wall.

She took her time staring at it, before stepping towards the dorms, and walking face first into the chest of one Jake Henry.

“Ah, sorry there bud! Managed to not see ya, somehow.” She said all of that before realizing that Jake had actually been knocked back by the impact, ending up on his back, a rough chuckle rising from her as she offered him a hand up.

Jake’s hand slowly rose from the ground, allowing her to help him to his feet. “Y-yeah, not really sure how you ended up not seeing me….” His feet slowly regained their typical duties, allowing him to stand over the shorter blacksmith, despite the best efforts of his posture, hunched shoulders, a bowed head, and a deep slouch all doing their best to keep him looking as small as he could.   
  
Alenda shrugged, her hands coming to rest on her hips as the actor took a shy step back. “Me neither.” She rocks back onto her heels, giving Jake a bit more room, though without taking a step back, her hands slowly moving off her hips, interlocking behind her back. “What’re you getting up to?”

“I-I’m not doing anything bad! I was just going to check in on the memorial… make sure everything was fine with the memorial, didn’t want to see anything happen to it...” His right hand reached across his body, grabbing his left elbow, pulling it tight against his side, into the slight nook between the bottom of his ribs and his hip. 

The blacksmith stood still for the moment, going over her thoughts for a second, before shrugging ever so slightly. “... Heck, I should visit it myself…” She admits after a moment, taking her own step back, before nodding towards it. “You, uh… just want to check it out together?”

Jake simply nods, slowly turning to walk towards the corner, settling in on a knee in front of the etched names and pile of flowers. 

Alenda follows in behind him, joining him on a knee, a single hand reaching out to swipe away a few small flecks of paint, clearing up Kasey’s name for better view, before her head turns back down to look at the flowers, a purple bloom appearing before her, even as she gingerly pulls it from the pile, taking over her view for a second, until she leans it against the wall beneath messy names and above clashing flowers. 

Once more, her eyes rose, taking in the words letter by letter, the shaky letters blazing through her mind as a single tear rises to her eye, until she’s able to blink it back, a sharp breath pulling her back into focus.

“-an’t believe it’s followed us…”

Jake’s words were mostly lost to her, but she doesn’t care to hear them, a mindless noise of agreement the only response she can muster. 

“We just can’t escape the lives we’ve been forced into… What did you do to get this far?” His question blindsides her, but she just shrugs, chuckles, and swings her leg out, landing into a full seated position. 

“Made a barricade. It’s what I did. I made things. Just some ugly metal mess, my mom would creep out to keep us fed, nobody really knew her that well, so she got off scot free. Still a bit shocked she didn’t just leave.” Even her own words sounded distant, as she finally felt a tear fall, curving along her face, before falling, nearly silent as it hit the ground.

Jake falls silent, blinking, once, twice, and finally answering his own question. “I just… left. Ran off to some weird place, didn’t even give a name when I got on the plane, hid out in some hotel, paid them off to keep silent… room service was a 6/10.” A weak laugh leaves him, before he slides down, resting on his foot, his other foot sliding out to bump against the wall. “... I should ask Maria for some comedy tips, shouldn’t I.” 

Alenda is unable to so much as raise a reply, her eyes locked in on a single e, unsure what name it’s even a part of. “... I miss my mom…” her murmur fills empty air, seeming to echo in her mind as she feels every ounce of physical focus leave her, her mind floating empty on a cloud of numbness, “... lost my dad to it, but I don’t need to think about him. Don’t want to sour the mood…” her empty laugh only proves how useless comedy is to both of them in the moment, both left to feel limp and empty.

“... Sleep?”

The single word sends an intense surge of lethargy through her body, her head hanging forwards in a numb nod, taking the hand offered to her when she finally looked up, returning to her feet, the pair stumbling to their room alone.

Alenda lands in her bed, and closes her eyes, sending herself away, feeling the tickles of warmth from the fire in the forge as she drifts to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe someday the fires will finally warm us all once more.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	24. Chapter Three: Part Three, Blooming Terrors

A few faint blinks were the first things that helped Alenda return to the world of the supposedly living, the darkness of her room signifying the time, some point late at night, and she rolled herself to the edge of her bed, swinging her legs over the side as she pulls herself up into a seated position, doing her best to blink sleep from her eyes and mind.

Eventually, her feet have found their way under her, as she stretches, popping her lips a couple of times, the chapped surface of them drawing her mind towards the idea of some water, as she stumbles out of her room, and down the hall, into the main room only to have any thoughts of hydration removed from her mind.

A smear of crimson over five names, and a still body beneath them caused her to freeze.

The bare, almost skeletal arms and thin tank top made it only too clear who it was, lying before her.

The Ultimate Contortionist, Micheal Gerends was still, even as she dashed over, dropping to her knees, ignoring the pain that jolted through her thighs with the action, a single hand reaching his shoulder, only for her to fall back, crawling backwards towards the wall as his eyes met hers.

She watched as he pushed himself off the ground, slowly rising to a sitting position, his face covered in an expression that managed to mix together fear and loathing perfectly, shaking eyes remaining locked with hers.

The silence held, the pair unable to do anything in the shock of the moment, eyes locked together as they tried to figure out what was happening.

“I didn’t think anyone was awake…” Micheal breaks the silence, lowering his eyes to the ground, before he starts to stand up. “I… I’ll just leave. I know I’m not supposed to be here.” 

As he moved to stand, Alenda mirrored his intent, standing as well, grabbing the boney wrist of the flexible man, keeping him from moving away too quickly. “This is for everyone. You don’t need to leave.”

A few heartbeats of silence passed before Micheal tugged his hand free of her grasp, and leaned against the wall, sliding down it till he’s sitting on the ground, Alenda lowering herself down to meet him. 

The silence held in their air between them for a few moments longer, until a single quiet noise leaves Micheal, a barely held back cry of anguish and anger, mixed smoother than any alloy. 

“... I don’t blame you.” 

“What?” 

The exchange couldn’t have had more difference between the two voices, one soft, barely audible, as it floats through the air, a fleeting thought dismissed like a puff of smoke, with a wave of the hand. 

The other harsh, cold yet filled with burning emotion, a grenade in verbal form. 

And as with any other explosive, the world needs time to recover, for ears to stop ringing.

“For what you did… If I were put in your shoes, I don’t know if I could’ve stopped myself either.”

And when a grenade was thrown, sometimes one would also be thrown to you.

“... You should. Blame me, that is, not be in my shoes.” 

Shaking breaths tore through the room, the silence of the night only amplifying the ringing from the explosions, even as nothing could be heard.

“Why?”

Sometimes, the absence of a bomb is the worst part. When the ticking under the table is just a clock, for some reason. You do your best to calm your heart, but, for some reason, it still insists something’s wrong.

“... I killed her. I killed Kasey, and I thought about leaving because of it. I thought about killing all of you. Diana’s the only reason I’m not dead… Alenda, what haven’t I done to harm everyone here?” 

His tone had lightened up, giving some flexibility, even as it held onto the same burning self hatred his previous words exuded. 

“You helped make sure that Diana didn’t kill us. Your honesty helped us escape there, and get that much closer to our final freedom, I’m sure of that. You saved ten lives.”

“And I wasted one!”

The harsh bite of his steely words threw her off balance, even as he buried his head in his hands, only revealing the source of the blood on the wall at this point, as a few spots appeared on his face.

Shockingly tender hands take the bleeding appendage, pulling it away from him, sighing gently as she sees the small pin-pricks, reminiscent of the same one that had appeared on Aneitha’s hand earlier. “... Is this your penance?” 

  
  


“Yeah. I should feel at least a portion of the pain I caused her.”

“Who told you that?”

“I did. Why shouldn’t I feel this? I’ve earned my own punishment, and I only got off thanks to a loophole! I should suffer what I’ve earned.”

His words have a harsh finality as he wrenched his hand away from her, standing up to storm back to his room, barely remaining in earshot long enough to hear her next words.   
  
“You’re in here with us. That’s enough to earn kindness from me.”

After the contortionist vanished, Alenda was left to stand, grabbing her drink of water, only to return to her room as well, praying sleep would be enough to help her forget what she just took part in.

\---

When she awoke again, the memory still burnt hot in her mind, even as she sat up, the lights feeling blinding, even as she rose up, brushing off her clothes, finding herself unable to care enough to change from yesterday’s outfit as she steps out into the hall, only for a punch of static to freeze her.

“Now that everyone’s awake, I have an announcement to make.” The distinctive voice of the Gamemaster kept her locked in place, staring at the open air. “If someone is not dead by midnight, then one random contestant will be forced to select another to die.” The slightest pop is heard, buried under the static. “You have eight hours and twenty minutes.” 

And the static faded off, though the freezing horror remained locked deep within the tightly coiled muscles of the blacksmith, until they were suddenly freed, and she almost fell forward as her body started walking without her telling it to.

Her mind puppeted her to the kitchen, and into view of the others- missing Micheal, of course- all of whom were sitting at the table, frying pans filled with half cooked or burnt food left on the stove, as Daniel had clearly just shut down the cooking operation for the morning, serving cereal to anyone who had it in them to eat.

“I just hoped we would get a bit longer here.” This angry voice could only belong to Gina, as she kicked the wall lightly, the soft ping of metal on metal following her declaration.

“Oh, but we haven’t even hit the third act of this tale.” Maya replied, a few dings filling the air as she bounces her spoon off the side of the bowl that had once held her breakfast. 

“Hey, this isn’t when we should be arguing like that! It isn’t going to help.” As always, Brynt was forced into the place of the voice of reason, holding his arms up as though he had to actually hold the bickering pair apart. “There has to be a way around this, where nobody has to die.”

“I-I don’t think that’s likely…” Jake quietly mutters, shaking his head. “You heard the wording, and I highly doubt the choice is going to be random… why would the Gamemaster not choose Micheal?” 

“Maybe we should just figure out a way to have someone trick the Gamemaster!” Daniel suggested suddenly, thrusting his hand out in front of him, in the hopes that the gesture might help quiet the group.

“Maybe someone should do what Ethan made Peroen do, this is not dissimilar, and a suicide only causes one death, and it would keep us from the puzzle.” 

The calm proclamation of the director sent everyone else silent.

“Good, now that I have your attention, the answer is simple. We wait it out and agree to choose someone. Because that’s the other option with as few deaths as possible. Puzzle it out.” 

“That’s fucking stupid. This is dumb as fuck.”

The grumblings of the miner preceded her exit, quickly followed by Brynt, handing off some excuse about calming her down as he dashed out.

The next little while was a blur, as the group noticed Alenda and did their best to lighten up, only to end up splintering off until only Alenda and Aneitha were left, in the stifling silence of the empty kitchen.

Alenda cleared her throat, just to give some noise as she stood up. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else. This place is… not really a great place to be right now. Let’s go relax somewhere else.”

Aneitha slowly stood, nodding her head shallowly. “The greenhouse. I-I want to go there. Just for a little bit…. But I don’t want to have to be there alone…”   
  
The calloused hand of the blacksmith grabbed the arm of the woodworker, leading her across the empty room, something already feeling off, but she pushed that off, blaming the lack-lustre breakfast that she had crammed down, despite her complete lack of hunger, only to feel a chill run through her, her emotions reflected on the face of the woodworker she was leading in the short glance she took back before pushing the door open.

And falling to her knees.

A scream rang out behind her, it sounded distant, underwater, almost, and a single set of footsteps came tearing into the room, heavy set and loud.

But her eyes were stuck on the body in front of her, the black handle of his own knife sprouting from his neck, as he lay in a pool of his own blood, his eyes closed, almost as if he was asleep.

And as the discovery announcement played, it clicked in her head that Brynt MacAllistar, the Ultimate Camp Counsellor was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this made one of you cry :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	25. Chapter Three: Part Four, Investigation Part One

The moment was left in silence for a second before alenda forced herself to swallow, the rest of the contestants flooding in behind her.

One by one, the noises of footsteps vanished, as they all were forced to stare at the body before them, the lifeless form of the kindest of them, the only one who always did his best to help make sure that everyone could continue on. 

Alenda forced herself to her feet, stepping into the greenhouse, Aneitha stepping in with a shy confidence set on her face, only to be followed by the rest of the group, the ten remaining contestants of this sick game surrounding the form on the ground. 

“... Well, I guess we know what we have to do…” Micheal mutters, even as he pressed himself back into the corner. “I’ll stay back here, out of your way...”

Alenda forced herself to step forward, standing over the one body she wished she never had to see. “... Now to do this again… Gina, do you think you and someone else can keep a watch here? T-that’s what Diana did, right? Make sure nothing went wrong?” 

“Yeah. She did all that. Me and Daniel’ll keep an eye here. This doesn’t seem like his thing, so it’s probably the best place to put him.” She grabs the lanky dietitian, pulling him to the far side of the room, so they can both keep watch over it. “Hope you don’t mind being drafted to guard duty.”

“Uh, no, no, I-I’m good with being over here. I’ll leave… all that to everyone else.” If anything, Daniel seemed relieved by the outcome, his face relaxed, tension seeming to have melted from his body as he reclined against the wall, his eyes remaining alert despite that. 

Aneitha took this moment to step forward slightly, taking a deep breath, before planting her feet to the ground. “Me and Alenda should take the lead on this! We were both in the kitchen till you were all gone, and then came here and… found this… so we’re the only ones who were always together from when Brynt left till now.”

The rest of the group looked between each other, Maya smiling ever so slightly, as she stepped to the side, an extravagant gesture towards the body her only acknowledgement, the rest of them slowly moving in agreement. 

Alenda moved forward, standing next to Anietha, even as she could feel panic starting to overtake her body, having to force a few deep breaths before looking around. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” She muttered under her breath, moving towards the pool of blood, stopping a few inches away, crouching down to inspect the weapon embedded within his neck.

“Hey, Daniel, can you come over here for a moment?” She calls out, beckoning the dietitian over, and he quickly trotted over to where she was.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is this one of the knives from the kitchen?” She points at the handle of the knife, the black plastic and pair of screws visible from the angle, only for Daniel to reply with a single shake of his head.    
  


“No, they have wooden handles and the rivets are flat. They’re actually shockingly nice, but there’s no rubber.” He indicates the difference with a point, lightly prodding the knife, causing Brynt’s limp head to slide to the side ever so slightly. “.... d-don’t think anyone got this from the kitchen…”

“Right… thanks.” 

Daniel made a hasty retreat back to his position by Gina, even as Alenda slowly returned to her feet, looking over to Aneitha who had already pulled out her tablet, the Death File already open, as she showed it to Alenda. 

“Victim: Brynt MacAllistar

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 185 lbs

Time of death: 10:43 AM

Cause of death: Blood loss due to a single stab wound

Brynt’s body was located in the greenhouse, a partially serrated knife lodged in his neck. No other injuries were found on his body. There are no signs of any forign substances in his blood.”

Alenda’s eyes slowly peeled themselves away from the screen, and back to the body, shaking her head ever so slightly. Her face held steady, until she noticed something that had evaded her notice at first.

The pale petals of the rose were half stained a horrible red as it lay in the puddle of blood.

Two fingers reached down, picking it up ever so gently, the blood dripping off the petals as it rose, a few slight ripples sent out by the droplets as they landed, as it rose to eye level thanks to the careful grasp of Maya Aruma, the director staring at it intently. 

“A rose by any other name, and I’m sure you know the rest. However, I’m afraid this isn’t fit to even be similar to a rose.” 

Her eyes changed their focus, allowing the multicoloured flower to fade away into the background. “Please, tell me what this small, beautiful proof of horror tells you.” Her words were aimed directly at the blacksmith, curious, yet emotionless.

“Well, it means that this was here when the murder happened, but I’m also not very sure what that tells us. It could’ve been here since a little bit before anything happened.” 

“Hmm, yes, that would seem to be correct. But we also cannot deny the fact that there’s a chance that the rose found its way to this place after the blood started flowing. Always keep all possibilities in mind.”

With that, the tuxedo clad lady walked off, vanishing through the door with a single wave, the flower having fallen back to the floor.

Alenda steps back from the body, a shaking breath leaving her. If there was anything more to be found at the body, she couldn’t be bothered to find it. It was just… too much for her. Not right now.

She turned, and looked around the room. It appeared only her, Anietha, Gina, and Daniel remained, and she started towards the door. 

“Hey, Alenda, we need to talk about something…”

Aneitha’s voice caught Alenda’s attention, and she turned back towards the woodworker with a slight smile, despite herself. “Yeah? What’s up?”   
  
Aneitha stepped in close to the shorter woman, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

“Out of everyone, we’re the only ones we know couldn’t have done this. Everyone else left before us, and we came right here. We can’t trust what any one person says…”

The sudden reminder of exactly how this situation worked left Alenda with a fading smile and the distinct pang of emotional pain that stuck through her chest everytime she remembered that someone in here had done exactly what she had promised to herself to never do. 

Even before she got in here. 

Her head shook, her hair cascading down around her face as it hung towards the ground, before the world returned to her, her head slowly rising back up.

“That just means we have to figure this out.”

Her voice took on the same steely edge that any blade she made held. Her eyes glossed over with the same cold vacancy usually saved for a fresh sheet of steel. 

Her shoulder rolled up, holding themselves as rigid as an iron bar, and her spine forced itself straight, as cold as the biting metal of a sword.

She had no reason to give up. If she gave up, it was death for her and Aneitha. 

That wouldn’t do. So onwards she must fight. 

“Yeah! We got this!”

In a perfect contrast, Aneitha was high strung, her eyes bright, yet calm, her body relaxed, ready to move, a smile crossing her face as she bounced her weight from foot to foot.

Alenda took Aneitha’s arm, and led her back out to the main room, empty, and hollow. The pair of them were the only people left in the room, even if it did give them their best chance to talk about what they knew. 

“Alright…. Alright… Let’s see what we have.” Alenda’s soft words hang in the air as she stares at the corner, opposite of the memorial. “We know that there’s only one wound, and it was caused by a knife that isn’t from the kitchen…” 

“And there’s that flower, the one that Maya pointed out, though I’m not really sure it means anything…”

“Yeah. That’s… That’s a lot of stuff to think about. Maybe we should… just check in with everyone, get to know what we can about what happened while we were in the kitchen.” 

The pair stood in silence for a moment longer until a sudden jolt ran through the taller of the two, her hand raising to point at the corner. 

“I think that there might be something else for us to learn in here.”

Alenda slowly turned around, until she spotted exactly what Aneitha was talking about. 

Her feet carried her over, hurried thuds until her fingers were able to trace over the letters.

Carved into the wall, like the five before it, was the two words she didn’t want to see.

“Brynt MacAllistar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is a memory worth anymore?
> 
> Find me on tumblr at: @reanmightwrite


	26. Chapter Three: Part Five, Investigation Part 2

The dread that had settled around Alenda’s heart held her in place, as two words hung heavy in her head, her arms and legs left feeling like unshaped lumps of iron. 

The daze was only broken by the reminder of Aneitha’s hand hitting her shoulder, suddenly bloating back up to her feet.

“We have to go ask everyone what they know. We can’t let whatever sick jackass thought to do this get away with it.”

Her voice held every single ounce of willpower locked within her body, and her mind was locked, as she stomped over toward the kitchen, opening the door without a thought, leaving the hesitation behind. There was a time limit, after all. 

And as such, she walked into the room, finding Likian, Jake, and Maya, the group all gathered around the table, in varying states.

Jake had his head in his hands, seemingly hyperventilating as his legs did their best to shake free form the rest of his body, Likian’s hand patting his back gently despite the intense nervousness running through her body, with Maya watching this with all the grim detachment of a lifeless statue.

Alenda stepped up to the table and all six eyes turned to face her, even as Likian’s hands suddenly fumbled for her notepad.

“Oh, hey! I thought of something that might help!” She says, pulling off a piece of paper and handing it over to Alenda. “It’s the order in which everyone left, cause I wrote it down in my notes every time someone did, just grabbed together.”

The paper rose up to Alenda’s field of view, as she looked over it with a sigh of relief. This might just help her figure out what happened.

“Gina, Brynt, Jake+Maya+Dearen, Maria, Daniel, Me, then you two, presumably.” Alenda read off the words as she skimmed it, doing her best to try and figure out what the timeline could look like. “Thank you Likian, I just needed to ask a few questions to everyone about what they saw.”

The reporter retreated back into her seat, a deep exhale of mild joy brushing past her lips, a thin smile crossing her face. “Thank god I can be helpful, at the very least. It would be so hard to figure out what happened without that, right? I just… I want to know who did all of this.” Her smile faded away, replaced with a vacant frown, of emotional distance as the build up of everything that happened continued to rain down over her.

“I’m sure you’ve helped us figure this out with that.” The interjection of Aneitha’s oddly cheerful voice threw Likian off balance, her head suddenly jolted up, her body shifting in her seat so she was facing closer to the middle point of where Alenda was and were Aneitha’s voice was coming from.

“Oh, that’s… that’s good.”

“Oh, sorry if I startled you, didn’t mean to.” The contrast between the dull, almost afraid tone of the reporter and the lively, somewhere between calm and energized that managed to ring hollow despite itself.

“I-... I’m all good. You can chat with everyone else. I’ll be fine in a moment, once I’m able to forget this…” Her fingers bounced off the cold metal of the table, even as she lowered her head, leaving the pair of investigating women to move on to the next member of this weird group.

And as such they moved towards the others, settling into a pair of seats as Maya turned her head towards them.

“Don’t speak with me, I gave you the answer already, however, I’m sure the help of others can aid you towards it with more work than my answer would take you to.”

The measured words of the director had all eight eyes on her, leaving her to shrug, and roll her hand in a vague gesture. 

“I need not speak if I don’t care to. Speak with Jake, he saw all I did, after all. And if he lies, I’ll interject.”

Alenda sighed deeply, and turned her head to face Jake, doing her best to hold a straight face, and not punching Maya, even as the glare of Aneitha remained locked on the smug face of Maya Aruma.

“Okay… Jake, what happened when you left the kitchen?”

Jake’s leg froze, his head snapping to attention as his name was spoken once more, his eyes frantically looking back and forth as his nervous energy continued to ache for a way out of his body. 

His hips shifted in his seat, his back straightening as he forced his mouth to start moving. “I-I think I could’ve stopped this from happening. M-me, Maya, and Dearen, we left and while we were walking towards the dorms, I thought something was different with the memorial, a-and after we found him, I looked and his name was there! Someone had already carved his name there, and it must’ve been carved there by the time we had left…”

Watching the flowing motions that carried Jake through the poses his posture made him hold was horrifyingly fascinating, the smooth motions conveyed the most contrived mixture of nervousness, disappointment, and an odd, emotionless calm that seemed to flicker through for a few heartbeats.

“I-if I had taken the moment to look closer when I saw it, maybe he wasn’t dead yet… maybe he could’ve been saved…” 

Alenda’s eyes flickered over to Maya, who met her eyes, and, with a flickering thin smile, simply shrugging, before her smile vanished once more, her elbows meeting the table with a soft click of barely covered bone against metal. 

“I cannot say anything he said doesn’t match up with what I know. However I doubt anyone would write his name there before they finished their plan. It doesn’t make sense to do so. Too much risk of someone stopping it.” Her hands flow together, fingers knitting into each other before her mouth, acting as a mask, covering her mouth. “And allowing anyone to find your plan before it reaches its completion… that’s an error even the most skilled would have trouble recovering from.” 

“S-so you’re just saying I-I couldn’t have done anything? It was already too late by the time we left? T-then it has to be Gina! She was the only one who left before us besides Brynt himself!” 

“If that’s what you believe I’m saying.”

Maya’s hands unfurled into another shrug, as her body rocks backwards, reclining in her seat. 

“I never said that the death happened before it, just that it would make more sense to have it happen in that order.”

Silence settled over the group once more, even as Maya’s harsh eyes read each person one by one. 

“Time is ticking, our blue collar detectives. You two best get moving before you run out of time.” Maya waves, a sickly sweet smile suddenly crossing her face. “I don’t wish to die thanks to your failure, so please, continue on.”

Alenda took that as the perfect chance to get the hell out of there, grabbing Aneitha’s wrist, tugging her out into the main room, taking a few seconds to try and recover after what they just heard. 

Aneitha’s voice suddenly broke into her mind. “Come on, we have to check in with Dearen and Maria before we run out of time. I’m not going to let whoever the hell did this get away!” Her resolve burned strong, and Alenda felt the warmth of the energy flowing through the woodworker, taking a single deep breath before replying with a single nod. 

The pair made their way into the dorms, and quickly found themselves at the sight of the door labelled with the name of the resident comedian, a few quick raps drawing the girl in question out. 

“Oh, oh no, oh no no no, oh you guys think I did it, don’t you? You’re here to question me and force a confession… well you won’t get one! I didn’t do anything to camper man!” The sudden burst of words that slammed into the pair of impromptu investigators caused both of them to stumble for a second.

“We don’t think it was you, we just want to know if you saw anything.” Alenda explained as best she can in so few words, her hands rising up a few inches, palms open, facing towards the high strung comedy specialist, watching as a few breaths manage to calm the joker. 

“I-I didn’t see anything. I just left the kitchen, imagined that the door swung shut and came right to my roo-... oh shit… oh I didn’t imagine it. Oh no.” The realization causes Maria’s face to go slack, horror boiling in her eyes as she leans against the doorframe. “I-I actually saw the door close, didn’t I. It actually closed. I was across the room from the killer. I could’ve found out who it was!” 

What followed was a string of self-insults and curses only stopped by an interruption. 

“Maria, you should go lie down. I’ll grab you a glass of water, but you’ve got to calm down before… the trial starts.” Anietha’s soft words seem to work on Maria, who nods slowly, trying to pull some colour into her face as she forces a smile. 

“Hey, I’m all good, don’t you worry. I know how to sm- make people smile, just gotta do it to myself. You deal with solving it, I’ll deal with smiling! I mean, I am basically just a well dressed and lighter make up version of a clown. Clowns make everyone smile. Without fail. Everyone.” 

A facsimile of a smile pulled itself over Maria’s face, even as she pushed the door closed, leaving Alenda and Anietha in silence for a few heartbeats before making their way upstairs, to the door marked with the name of the only person with an unknown skill set.

A few knocks and a pause later, and he showed up, blinking sleep from his eyes. 

“Ah, I suppose I should’ve figured that you would show up here eventually. I assume you have questions for me, and I suppose I’ll have answers. What do you wish to know?”

“We just want to know what you saw when you left the kitchen after the motive was announced.”

Dearen paused for a second, holding up a single finger as he yawns, his other hand lazily covering his mouth until it finally passes, both hands falling back to his sides. 

“Jake was nervous and thought something was off. Maya was confident. She seemed sure of herself. I wouldn’t trust that, she seemed unsettling in that moment, though it might’ve been fake. I’m not sure.”

He had an odd amount of energy as he explained what he had seen, before it suddenly faded back away, his body seeming to lose all form as he fell against the wall inside his room, blinking a few times. 

“I… ah… I’ve got to rest before the trial starts. Though I doubt I’m getting much more before all of it. Time seems short at best.”

The door swung shut once more, leaving Alenda and Anietha with only pieces of the story they have to unravel, all while playing against the villain amongst them. 

It was at that moment that static filled the air, and they both started walking before thinking, meeting the remaining group, save for Dearen, who was still behind them, likely having to peel himself out of bed again.

The words didn’t matter to Alenda, she simply continued until she stood before the suddenly unlocked doors, until a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. 

Suddenly, she found herself face to face with Gina, a worried look over her face.

“Alenda, I need you to listen to me. Jake said he thinks it was me and I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, it wasn’t! I-I left and went right to my room, and stayed there until the body announcement. Though… I shouldn’t say this, it just sounds bad, but Brynt… he knocked on my door soon after I got there. He just wanted to make sure I was okay, but I told him to leave me alone. He left right after that, and I didn’t leave my room until he was dead.”

She paused her dump of info for a second, looking over the group for a moment before returning her gaze to the blacksmith. 

“There’s something else as well. The knife that killed him? It was his own knife. It was like my pickaxe, in his bottom drawer, just by itself. It’s his own knife, so whoever did this had to take it from him first.”

Before she could say anything else, the static filled the room once more, as Dearen met up with the group. 

“Please enter the door and prepare for the class trial. Everyone’s waiting.” 

The static stopped and 10 talented individuals boarded an elevator. 

  
The only question that remained was would Alenda and Anietha succeed once they reached the courtroom, or would only one person remain as they made their way back.

Who killed Brynt MacAllistar, and would they manage to get away with it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A question must always have an answer, correct? 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at @reanmightwrite


	27. Chapter Three Evidence

Death File: A file listing information about the victim.

Brynt’s Knife: Found in his neck, likely the murder weapon. Confirmed to be from somewhere other than the kitchen by Daniel, confirmed to be Brynt’s by Gina.

Bloodied Flower: A white rose found lying in the pool of blood around Brynt’s body.

Carved name: Brynt’s name, carved into the wall, much like the other dead people thus far.

Likian’s account: Likian wrote down the order everyone left in, and gave you the page to help figure it out.

Jake’s account: Jake claims that when he, Maya, and Dearen left, that Brynt’s name seemed to already be in the memorial, before he saw Maya go back to her room before he went to his, but he wasn’t sure where Maya went, confirmed by Dearen and Maya, somewhat.

Aneitha’s account: Anietha points out that her and Alenda were both the last to leave, and the ones who found the body right after leaving, giving them an airtight alibi.

Maria’s account: According to Maria, when she left the kitchen to head over to her room, she 

could’ve sworn the door to the greenhouse was closing, but she probably just imagined it.

Gina’s account: According to Gina, she went back to her room, and Brynt knocked on her door a moment later, but she shooed him away and stayed there until the announcement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr at @reanmightwrite


	28. Chapter Three, Trial Part One.

The contestants soon found themselves back in the very room that three murderers had been revealed in, standing behind podiums as the clock began ticking once more, joined by two new portraits. 

Diana’s face, a combination lock printed over the monochrome visage, and the ever smiling face of Brynt MacAllistar, a crudely drawn knife hovering around his neck.

As the group settled in, the screen descended from above, the image of the body flickering back to their vision, only confirming the situation to its final degree as the trial began.

And, as with every other time they had ended up standing in front of the podiums, their eyes flickered across the dwindling faces that remained, each and every single one masks, trying to hide what broiled underneath their carefully cultivated facades. 

The silent ticking of a nonexistent clock drove them on towards the first words spoken.

“Okay, so, let’s… do alibis? T-that seems like a good place to start, right?” Jake’s voice carried through the room, hollowly ringing through the air even as a few slow nods passed around the circle, inviting whoever felt brave to speak.

“Actually, I believe there’s something more important.” Maya’s sudden interjection snapped every eye over to her, as her fingers picked at the hem of her jacket, smoothing it out. “Alibis are useless if we don’t know when this happened, given the nature of this murder.” Her hands flow up, into a limp shrug. “However, I am unsure as to how we can prove when he died. I suppose that must be left up to the ones who investigated this, they are the only ones here with information worth sharing for us.” 

A gesture and the eyes of the world were locked on the pair of investigators, even as they only glanced at each other for a moment, the moment passing for a few brief seconds, even as Alenda slowly pushed her hand into her pocket. 

Her fingers closed around the paper handed to her by Likian less than an hour ago, slowly pulling free, and laying it out on her podium.

“Well, if we have to figure out the order that things happened, we should start with when we all left the kitchen, because then we can work around that with what everyone saw, right?”

Aneitha nods in agreement with her fellow investigator, taking her chance to bring her knowledge to the table.

“W-we were given a piece of paper with the order that everyone left in by Likian, which is something we can structure this all around.” Even as she spoke, her hands slowly rose up, spreading themselves across her podium, pushing down to ensure that they’ll remain still.

Even as the group had seemed to grow closer, the mention of a name could seem to shatter that.

“How do you know we can trust her?” 

The sudden burst of Maria’s quaking voice tore through the air, a shaking finger indicating the subject of her suspicions, the suddenly very confused reporter.

“It’s not me! I didn’t do any of that! Why would I kill Brynt, he saved all of us twice!”

“Then why would anyone kill him, hmm?”

Maya once again stole the show, looking almost bored with the show.

“If we can’t trust the word of Likian, why shouldn’t we test the word of all of us?” She continued, gesturing out to the entire group. “Read the order. If there’s a single person who disagrees, then we can argue it more, yes?”

Alenda picked up the paper, clearing her throat as she reminded herself how to speak. “The first to leave was Gina, followed by Brynt himself. There was a short period of time before anyone else left, after which Jake, Maya, and Dearen left together. Another short break passed and then Maria left, followed shortly afterwards by Daniel, then Likian left. A moment after that, me and Anietha left together and found the body.”

After a wordless moment of pure tension, the room relaxed the ever so slightest bit. 

“It appears Likian’s writings are to be trusted, I’m sorry to say that your accusation only served to cost us time, Maria. Now we shall move on.” Maya’s arrogant tone didn’t show a sign of flagging, as she leaned forward, arms reaching out to steady her body as she looked around the group. “We have a murder to solve, so let’s get it dealt with.” 

And with a single wave she returns the eyes of the group back to the investigators, each pair of eyes searching for some sort of secret that would free them from this trial. 

“Well, now that we have an order, we can work with that. We know Brynt died sometime between when he left and me and Aneitha left, so lets start there. Likian did leave with enough time to… do what we saw, from my memory at least, so I don’t know if we can count anyone out then.” A short pause rang out through the room, as a mix of horror and despair crept over the faces of those willing to emote. 

A few clawing seconds of tense silence was the only thing that ran through the air, until the shaking hands of the actor slowly rose up. “S-s-should we talk about the name?” His eyes were locked on Anietha, and suddenly the realization of that fact hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Yes! Ur, uh, yeah, we should. So first talking point. When Jake left with Maya and Dearen, he claimed to see that, over in the corner, the little memorial that Brynt made, another name was there, and me and Anietha saw that Brynt’s name was there when we checked it out. So that might be useful.” Alenda’s hands flap about uselessly as she tries to piece together an non-existent map with them, confusion covering her face at her own actions. 

“Y-y-yeah, when I left the kitchen, that’s what I thought I saw… just another name added, and it was… unsettling, to say the least, but I didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to scare anyone else…”

A murmur of discussion runs throughout the group, until Maria raises her hand, waving it in the air for a moment, silencing the group as she does her best to collect herself. “Hey, what about what I saw? With the door opening?” After the entire group had started staring at her, Maria figured out that she should probably elaborate. “Oh, well, when I left the eating place, the door of the other place was open. Well, I say open, but it was just closing. Like someone had just gone in there.”

The entire group took itself a moment to disgust what that must mean, the silence broken by Maya once again. “So someone entered the greenhouse, but minutes after the name was carved, meaning it would imply that the name was carved far before the murder likely took place, if Maria is worth trusting as well. Or Jake for that matter. We haven’t freed anyone from suspicion.” 

As always, the words of the director sends everyone into silence, as, with every other time, it feels that she’s only speaking the truth. 

Until Gina spoke up. “Yeah, but we can prove that the name was carved before the death, cause the knife was still in his neck! And even if it got removed, there wasn’t any blood or anything on the wall. So we can guess that someone carved it before he died because of that much, right?”

“I suppose I can concede that point, however it still leaves us to ask; who carved it then?” With a single hand, she motions around the room. “Was it Gina, the first to leave? Or Maria, the one who claimed to see the killer enter the greenhouse, or maybe it was Jake himself, the first to see the name, to give himself deniability.”   
  
“W-wh-what if it was Brynt? Wh-what if he carved his own name? As-as-as like an… invitation or something!”Jake’s nervous stuttering only led to an increase in volume, a trained voice rippling through the air. “I-i-if he wasn’t d-dead at that point, he could’ve right?”

“Woah!” Alenda pushed herself back into the conversation. “Why the hell would he do that? Doesn’t make sense. Why would Brynt want someone to kill him?”

Each word thundered through the air, carried by powerful lungs trained in the forge to ignore the pain that might arise from anything happening to them. 

And each word seemed to hit a certain member of this group harder and harder each time, the downtrodden contortionist, who had kept silent as best he could in the face of the mystery. 

Until he couldn’t any more. 

“I saw who carved the name.”

And the world’s gone silent, even the ever present hum of the lights seemed to die away at the power held within those six simple words.

“I saw him, just by luck. It was Brynt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus it continues. Sorry for the stupid long break.


End file.
